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WHEN I WAS A BOY 
IN PERSIA 



CHILDREN OF OTHER LANDS BOOKS 

Independent Volumes With Characteristic Illus- 
trations and Cover Designs i2mo Cloth 
Price of Each Volume, net, $1.00. 

There are many books about the children of other coun- 
tries, but no other group like this, with each volume written 
by one who has lived the foreign child life described, and 
learned from subsequent experience in this country how to 
tell it in a way attractive to American children — and in fact 
to Americans of any age. 

WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA 

By Yan Phou Lee 
WHEN I WAS A GIRL IN ITALY 

By Marietta Ambrosi 
WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

By Sakae Shioya 
WHEN I WAS A BOY IN GREECE 

By George Demetrios 
WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PALESTINE 

By Mousa J. Kaleel 
WHEN I WAS A BOY IN BELGIUM 

By Robert Jonckheere 
WHEN I WAS A BOY IN RUSSIA 

By Vladimir De Bogory Mokrievitch 
WHEN I WAS A BOY IN ROUMANIA 

By Dr. J. S. Van Teslaar 
WHEN I WAS A GIRL IN HOLLAND 

By Cornelia De Groot 
WHEN I WAS A GIRL IN MEXICO 

By Mercedes Godoy 
WHEN I WAS A GIRL IN ICELAND 

By Holmfridur Arnadottir 
WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

By Youel B. Mirza 
WHEN I WAS A BOY IN SCOTLAND 

By George McPherson Hunter 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 
BOSTON 




•• •* f •* •• 



WHEN I WAS A BOY 
IN PERSIA 



BY 

YOUEL B. MIRZA 



ILLUSTRATED FROM PB0T0QRAPH3 




BOSTON 
LOTHROP LEE & SHEPARD CO. 



Published, April, 1920 



»$ 



Copyright, 1920 
By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 



All rights reserved 



When I Was a Boy in Persia 



MAY 10 iy20 



HorwooD f>re60 

BERWICK & SMITH CO. 

NORWOOD, MAS8. 
V. 8. A. 



©CI.A566896 



THIS BOOK, IN ALL ITS SIMPLICITY, 
IS SINCERELY DEDICATED TO 

WESTEL WOODBURY WILLOUGHBY, 

MY PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE 
IN THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY 



PEEFACE 

The author had just returned from 
France, to be released from active service 
in the United States Navy, in which he en- 
listed during the Great War. While wait- 
ing to receive his final papers at the Bay 
Eidge Barracks, Brooklyn, N. Y., and to 
pass the time lightly, he began perusing a 
series of books written by native authors 
about the "Children of Other Lands. " It 
was the enlightening and pleasurable 
reading that inspired him to write this 
story of his own boyhood days. It is 
hoped that this narrative, written by an 
imported citizen of the* United States, not 
only will prove helpful and instructive, but 
will aid others also to pass pleasantly their 
lonely hours. 

In the preparation of this book the 

7 



8 PREFACE 

author has taken especial pains to spell the 
Persian names and terms as they are 
pronounced by the natives, and to tell 
briefly only of the habits, customs, mode of 
living, and what he himself heard, saw, 
and did when he was a boy in Persia. 

Y. B. M. 
Washington, D. C. 



CONTENTS 



i 



PAGE 



My Father and Mother, their Parents, and 
their Character and Customs .... 11 

II 

The Birth and Care of a Child ..... 28 

III 
School-Days ...... B ... 44 

IV 

Persian Games, Amusements and Massalie 
(Stories) 62 

V 
Marriages 'and Wedding Ceremonies . . .88 

VI 

Persian Fasts and Festivals . . . . . 104 

VII 

Persian Houses. The Mode of Living, Eat- 
ing, and Dressing 115 

9 



10 CONTENTS 

VIII PAGE 

Persian Villages and Cities. Trades and 
Occupations op the Inhabitants . . . 133 

IX 

Persian Rugs and Rug-Makers 159 

X 

Preparations for a Far Journey . . . . 182 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

YouEii Benjamin Mirza Frontispiece ■' 

FACING 
PAGE 

The Kurds ..-•■.> 22* 

The Bastinado 46 

A Persian School 58 

Persian Wrestlers 66 v 

Persian Dancing 92 

Kurdish Chieftain of Soudjboulak . . . 100 ;/ 

Mirza Haroot Maroot 100 \/ 

Persian Women Making Candy and Smoking 

Their Water-Pipes 120 

A Village Near Shiraz 134 

Market in Urumiah 154 " 

Rug- Weaver at Work 170 ^ 

A Country House in Persia 196 

General View of Urumiah 196 



WHEN I WAS A BOY 
IN PERSIA 



I 



MY FATHER AND MOTHER, THEIR PARENTS, 
THEIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS 

My father and mother, their parents and 
parents' parents for generations, as well 
as myself, were born in Nazie, a small vil- 
lage in the fertile province of Azerbajin 
in northern Persia. 

That my parents were in love with each 
other from their early days cannot be 
doubted. My mother often used to speak 
of her early love affair and of events 
which took place before her marriage to 
my father, but owing to the existing cus- 
tom in Persia, where boys and girls never 
under any circumstances associate with 

each other, my mother never had an op- 

11 



12 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

portunity to express herself openly in this 
matter. 

My parents had first seen each other 
by chance at the village spring or brook, 
where my mother was carrying an earthen 
jar full of fresh drinking-water for the use 
of the household, and my father was water- 
ing his Persian steed. They were per- 
fectly suited to each other in looks, as my 
mother was beautiful and my father very 
handsome. 

My mother and her younger sister were 
considered the best-looking girls in the 
province. Mother had an unusually light 
complexion for a Persian maiden; dark 
hair reaching far below her waist, hazel 
eyes, and dark eyebrows. Her figure was 
tall and slender as a cypress-tree. My 
father was short, with black hair, rosy 
cheeks, and piercing black eyes which made 
him unusually attractive and pleasing in 
appearance. 

Most love affairs in Persia start in about 
the same way. It is customary to have 



MY FATHER AND MOTHER 13 

fresh drinking-water brought to the house 
at least twice a day, and this duty is usually 
assigned to young women. To the Persian 
boys sometimes falls the task of taking the 
cattle and horses to water. This is done 
about the same time the girls go to the 
spring, so not infrequently a love affair 
is started by a glance. I once saw a boy on 
the picturesque bridge of a brook gazing 
so hard at a girl that he lost his balance 
and fell overboard. Gazing, however, is 
about all the boys can do. They dare not 
speak to the girls, for that is considered 
a great insult and would result in a family 
quarrel. 

My father, therefore, had no chances of 
saluting his sweetheart or of bestowing 
upon her gifts, except secretly. He would 
see her at times on the housetops, and, as 
he passed by, when no one was looking, he 
would toss boxes of candy up to her. Oc- 
casionally he would sing a Persian love 
song to inform her that he was in the neigh- 
borhood, but the only thing my mother 



14 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

could do was to listen and keep the affair 
from the knowledge of her parents. 
Otherwise there would have been not only 
trouble for her, but my father would have 
been exposed to a great deal of danger and 
humiliation. 

The love which existed between them to 
the last of their days, was, indeed, love at 
first sight. Although family friction kept 
them from taking matrimonial steps for 
some time, they never lost sight of each 
other, and whenever there was a chance 
of taking a glance or peeping through 
hedges or fences, the precious opportunity 
was not neglected. 

Unwilling to keep up this kind of love 
affair indefinitely, my father finally in- 
formed grandfather of his desires, and re- 
quested that he ask the girl's father for 
her hand in marriage. 

Being the youngest and favored son of 
his father, he almost invariably obtained 
anything that attracted his fancy. In this 
case, however, the gift he asked was too 



MY FATHER AND MOTHER 15 

precious, and his desire was beyond his 
father's wealth. Land, money, property 
and earthly ambitions were no considera- 
tion. The prominent factors concerned 
were those of caste, family, and religion. 
My father's parents, though wealthier, 
were not considered socially equal to my 
mother's family. 

Castes and Differences 

In Persia before a marriage can take 
place the equality of the parties is strictly 
considered. Caste, family, religion, char- 
acter, fortune, profession, and beauty, all 
play an important part in the field of 
matrimony. On such grounds my two 
grandfathers differed. 

Mother's father, Kasha Nweeya, was a 
clergyman by profession, and the best- 
informed man in the community. In the 
village in which the two families lived were 
three Christian churches, — Greek Catholic, 
Nestorian, and Presbyterian. The Cath- 
olic and Nestorian priests were painfully 



16 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

ignorant. Neither of them could read or 
write. They merely memorized a few 
prayers written in the old Syriac or Latin 
languages, and every Sabbath they re- 
peated them to their congregations. My 
maternal grandfather, being a Presbyte- 
rian, was not only highly educated but 
owned the only library in the village. This 
library consisted of a dozen or more re- 
ligious books. The volumes, with the ex- 
ception of a Syriac Bible were all manu- 
scripts, bound in coarse leather, and looked 
like ledgers. My grandfather had three 
sons and two daughters. The sons were 
Lazarus, Yousuph, and Shimuel. Two of 
his sons were college graduates, and You- 
suph looked after their land and stock. 
Eachel and Sara, his daughters, were also 
quite well educated. Eachel, who finally 
became my mother, was the oldest. 
Grandfather Nweeya, being the best-edu- 
cated man in our community, was also the 
most highly respected. He had studied 
theology under the early Nestorian and 



MY FATHER AND MOTHER 17 

American teachers. He was ordained a 
clergyman at the age of eighteen, which 
profession he followed for nearly sixty 
years. Upon seeing him the villagers 
would stand up, and in passing he would 
say, " Peace be with you," and in answer 
they would all say, "On you be peace.' ' 

My paternal grandfather was different 
from mother's father in every respect. 
In the first place nature had endowed him 
with an imposing figure and physique. 
He was over six feet tall, and was fearless 
of everything and everybody. The town 
folk, when speaking of his strength, would 
say, "He is as strong as a buffalo." He 
had never been known in his manhood days 
to lose a wrestling match. He became 
mayor of the village as soon as he was able 
to command authority, which position he 
held till old age robbed him of his powers. 
He was known throughout the province as 
Mirza Pachow. 1 Sometimes he was known 

i Pachow was my grandfather's father, who was 
known nearly all over Persia. He was probably one of 



18 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

as Mirza Ketkhoda, which means the leader 
in the community. 

Instead of carrying a Bible or a staff 
in his hand, like my mother's father, he 
carried a stout club. As he approached 
the villagers would say, " Mirza Pachow is 
coming," and they would all quickly rise 
and salute, saying, " Peace be with you." 
His answer would be quite arbitrary or ac- 
cording to his mood. He would either say, 
"On you be peace," or he would simply 
give them a stern glance and pass on. 
This grandfather had one daughter and 
three sons, Benjamin, Namatoe, and 
Moshie, who was my father. To his great 
sorrow, none of his sons ever patterned 
after him. They did not have the strength 
and physique to follow in his footsteps and 
preserve the family traditions as he had. 
He knew this quite well, and I remember 
that he often used to grieve over it. 

the wealthiest and strongest men Persia had ever had. 
At one time he was summoned to the Court of Persia 
to wrestle with the champion wrestler of the country, 
in which match the Shah acted as referee. 



MY FATHER AND MOTHER 19 

His mode of dressing was most pic- 
turesque. He wore the usual Persian hat 
covered with lambskin; wide trousers, 
which came to his ankles ; and a long and 
unusual overcoat. The inside was red and 
the outside blue, dotted all over with but- 
tons. He had two brass buttons on each 
shoulder. Just why he wore these orna- 
ments I am unable to say. 

He used to make frequent trips to Kur- 
distan, and because of his bravery and 
fearlessness, he was greatly beloved by 
these bloodthirsty people. It was on that 
very account that, when the majority of 
people making trips to Kurdistan would 
come back robbed and bruised, grandfather 
Mirza would return with flocks of sheep, 
goats, and exquisite Kurdish rugs and 
tapestry. Some of these he bought, but 
most of them were given him as presents. 

This man was generous to all boys, and 
I can safely say that he was the best- 
hearted man I have ever known. When 
I was sick with smallpox, I remember his 



20 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

staying by my bedside day and night. In 
order to make me happy and forgetful of 
my sufferings, every day he would present 
me with pieces of money, and tell me 
stories of the Kurds. 

He was generous to a fault. His home 
and stables were always open to every- 
body. When other village men were 
frightened almost into panic upon hearing 
that the Kurds were in the vicinity, grand- 
father would take the frightened men into 
his home and entertain them lavishly. 
Our village was on many occasions at- 
tacked by the Kurds, and several families 
who had expressed a dislike for my grand- 
father had their property and cattle stolen, 
but his house was never attacked. 

His voice was tremendous and many men 
recognized him from a distance by his 
sonorous tones. When he shouted the vil- 
lage men would say, "The lions and bears 
from fear of his voice flee to the mountains 
and disappear.' ' 

This powerful, fearless, but lovable man 



MY FATHER AND MOTHER 21 

acted as a mediator between the Kurds and 
the city market-places. The Kurds al- 
ways feared going to the city to sell their 
sheep, goats, wool, and rugs, lest they 
should be arrested by the Government of- 
ficials, as practically all they had had been 
stolen, so these merchants would bring 
their commodities to my grandfather to 
sell. He would usually buy half of them 
and the other half they would give him as 
a present. 

Upon one occasion I heard the following 
story with regard to him and the Kurds, 
and I believe it is quite accurate. He had 
bought what stock the Kurds had brought 
to him, and in order to sell it he went to 
iLTrumiah, a city of five or six miles from 
his own village. Unable, on account of the 
lateness of the day, to return, he spent 
the night in the home of some of his friends. 
That very night, the Kurds with their full 
force attacked the Home in which he was 
staying, and finally forced their way 
within the gates of the yard. The family, 



22 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

upon realizing that the dreaded robbers 
were about their house, became panic- 
stricken, but my grandfather simply 
called for his club. When the Kurds heard 
the unmistakable voice of Mirza Pachow 
they left the house, postponing their at- 
tack until some more favorable oppor- 
tunity. As a matter of fact, they were 
not afraid of my grandfather for they had 
a big force, but he, being their friend, they 
considered it unmanly and un-Kurdish-like 
to attack the house in which he was making 
his abode for the night. 

I have given this account of my paternal 
grandfather to show why a marriage con- 
nection between the two houses seemed im- 
possible. The animosity which my two 
grandfathers held toward each other, be- 
sides being due to the Kurdish problem, 
was also, to a great extent, due to their 
religious differences. Had my paternal 
grandfather become a Presbyterian, as was 
the other, the affair of the marriage might 
have been easily arranged. But Mirza 




to 





M 



H g 

o 

H 



MY FATHER AND MOTHER 23 

Ketkhoda could not even understand the 
term Presbyterian. His parents had never 
talked of such a name, and he did not be- 
lieve that Presbyterianism could either 
take him to heaven or send him to the 
place of eternal punishment, and if they 
really had such power, what about his fore- 
fathers? Were they to be lost for not be- 
ing Presbyterians? He, of course, knew 
about Christianity and Christ, but he 
could not grasp the idea of associating 
Presbyterianism with Christianity. 

In fact, in my grandfather's time, very 
few people in our country did grasp such 
an idea. Grandfather Mirza would not 
even listen to the teachings of a new doc- 
trine. He believed in old wine, old friends, 
•old religion, and he preferred to believe 
and die in the faith of his fathers. With 
the exception of my father, who really fol- 
lowed my mother rather than any religion, 
all of his sons refused to admit the mis- 
sionaries to their homes. I distinctly re- 
member one bright, sunny winter day, 



24 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

while I was standing on the housetop, a 
missionary who was visiting my preacher 
grandfather, came to call and incidentally 
to convert the oldest brother of my father. 
Almost immediately after his entrance into 
the house, I saw him thrown to the yard, 
and from the yard into the street with 
Lotie Bashie * after him. My parents re- 
gretted the affair, but Grandfather Mirza 
was not only highly pleased over it, but ex- 
pressed his feelings in such words as would 
not bear repetition here. 

It can thus be seen why the two families 
did not want to associate with each other. 
My two grandfathers never exchanged 
gifts or greetings. They condemned one 
another to their friends most vigorously. 
My maternal grandfather, Eev. Nweeya, 
disliked the idea of connecting his name 
with one who, besides mistreating the mis- 
sionaries, was a friend of the Kurds, and 

i Lotie Bashie, which means "the head of the sports," 
was the name of the dog. In this connection, let me say 
that the missionary, who was doing his duty, was saved 
from the dog by a kind-hearted neighbor. 



MY FATHER AND MOTHER 25 

in return he was scoffed at by my father's 
father for his Apostolic ideas, and for 
preaching about what was going on in 
heaven. In all my life I never saw my two 
grandfathers together. 

Of my two grandmothers, there is little 
to be said. They were both the heads of 
large families. Their word in their own 
home was law, and it did not take their 
children very long to find it out. They 
were both, however, very sympathetic and 
kind in nature. The name of my mother's 
mother was Monna, and I loved her next 
to my own mother. The grandmother on 
my father's side, I never saw, as she died 
the year I was born. Her name was 
Sheran, which means " Sweet,' ' and from 
all I used to hear of her from my father, 
she possessed qualities which made her 
worthy of her name. It was told that my 
two grandmothers, unlike their husbands, 
always got along well together. 

But my grandmothers had no power to 
make marriage settlements for their chil- 



26 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

dren, and especially in the case of my 
parents, as Eev. Nweeya refused to have 
any relations with Grandfather Mirza. It 
was therefore decided that my mother 
should be taken by force. Her father was 
finally told that if his consent could not be 
obtained, his daughter would be kidnapped. 
He knew that this could easily be accom- 
plished with a few Kurds. Grandfather 
Mirza could easily storm the house and take 
away the girl for his son. 

Even now this practice is not rare. I re- 
member quite well how one of my own rela- 
tives was kidnapped by the Kurds and 
given to her lover in Kurdistan. 

This situation brought much uneasiness 
to the home of my mother. For fear of 
having her taken against her father's 
wishes, Grandfather Nweeya compelled 
her to stay at home guarded until she was 
finally taken to the city and married to 
some one who pleased his fancy. In the 
meantime my father, in order to drown his 
sorrows married some one else. 



MY FATHER AND MOTHER 27 

As fate would have it, the man whom my 
mother first married died within a year 
after their union. She therefore returned 
to her father's house, where she remained 
a widow for some years. In the meantime, 
the woman whom my father had married, 
also died, thus leaving the lovers free 
again. 

This freedom seemed to be heaven's way 
of bringing my parents together, so the 
subject of matrimony between them was 
again renewed, even though the same diffi- 
culties that had barred them before re- 
mained, as her father still opposed the 
match. But my mother and father had by 
that time grown older; both having been 
married once, they had gained much ex- 
perience and possessed some knowledge 
in judging human nature. So they wisely 
decided to follow the dictates of their own 
hearts. They were finally united in a 
happy marriage, for all of which I am in- 
deed very grateful. 



II 



THK BIHTH AND CAKE OF A CHILD 

The common idea prevailing in various 
countries as to the treatment of girls in 
Persia upon coming into this world has 
been greatly exaggerated. It is true that 
the birth of a boy brings more happiness 
to the family than that of a girl, but the 
mere fact that the mother has given birth 
to a daughter is no sign at all that the girl 
infant is to be persecuted. 

The birth of a boy is, of course, an event 
of great importance in the life of young 
parents. In the first place the mother is 
practically a stranger in her mother-in- 
law's household, and bringing a son to her 
husband's family makes her doubly appre- 
ciated. In the second place the birth of a 
boy is more welcome because the son will 
soon grow up and be an addition to the 



TEE BIETH AND CARE OF A CHILD 29 

strength of the clan. Thirdly, the young- 
ster is expected to succeed his father in his 
trade or profession and to perpetuate the 
memory of his family. On the other hand, 
the j>oy of the family is not so great at the 
birth of a daughter because the infant is 
expected to leave the family the day of 
her marriage and thus her connection with 
her father 's house becomes of less import- 
ance than that of a boy. 

When a baby is born the friends, neigh- 
bors, and relatives begin to pour in and con- 
gratulate the young parents. Upon the 
birth of a boy the family begins to enter- 
tain friends most lavishly. The samovar 
(the brass teapot) is all the time boiling to 
the brim. No one comes in or goes out 
without drinking some good tea and eating 
the sweet nokhols (candy). On such oc- 
casions the village poor are always re- 
membered. Being too poor to pay their 
calls 1 to the home where a new light has 

i As every caller must bring a present the poor natu- 
rally refrain from paying any visits on such occasions. 



30 WEEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

dawned, members of the happy family take 
to them wheat, flour, cloth, raisins, and 
nuts. They eat and drink, give praise to 
Allah, petitioning him to prolong the life 
of the mother and her child and to soon 
give the family another son. 

When the callers are through with their 
visits they depart with the following ex- 
clamation: "May the foot 1 of your maid 
be blessed and may God preserve her to 
you. We hope the next one may be a 
boy!" Should the. infant be a boy they 
say: "May the foot of your young man 
be blessed. May God spare him to you and 
make him like hair that is never exhausted, 
but grows again when cut or pulled out. 
May Allah not think one son enough for 
you." 

No Birth Records 

Among the Persians, birth records are 
hardly ever kept. The children therefore 

i That is, "May her coming into the world bo- a bless- 
ing/ 9 



THE BIRTH AND CARE OF A CHILD 31 

have no birthdays or birthday parties and 
presents. The only way that they can tell 
the age of a child is by associating the 
day or the year of the birth with some 
great event. For instance, should a boy 
be born a few days before or after Christ- 
mas or around about Easter or during the 
Nourooz (New Year) festival, there will, 
of course, be no trouble in keeping his age 
straight. But should the child be so un- 
fortunate as to be born at the time when 
there is no saint celebration, festival, or 
big event he will have to go through life 
without really knowing his age. 

The age questions do not enter their 
minds and people are only as old as they 
feel and no one worries about his age or 
thinks that age is "against him." Such 
was the case of my paternal grandfather. 
No one knew his age. Some thought that 
he lived over a hundred and fifteen years, 
others claimed that he died at the ripe age 
of one hundred and five years. Every one, 
however, agreed that he lived in his vil- 



32 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

lage over a hundred years. There was 
really no way of determining his correct 
age. But one thing is certain, that from 
what I remember of him he lived to be a 
very, very old man. On account of his 
great age he remained in his bed for nearly 
four years before his death and had to be 
waited on. Being too feeble to start his 
pipe I used to start it often by taking the 
first few puffs ; when I finally had the pipe 
ready I would put it in his hands ; he would 
then bless me and call me "Azizim" (be- 
loved). 

Receiving a Name and Title 

"When a boy is eight days old he is given 
a name. At the celebration of this rite 
the mullah (the priest) performs religious 
ceremonies by reading the Koran and 
finally giving the child the name desired 
by his parents. In the case of a girl there 
are no religious ceremonies. Her name 
is chosen by her parents and is given to 
her by a woman relative. The procedure 



THE BIRTH AND CARE OF A CHILD 33 

is quite simple. The infant girl is taken 
in the arms and her name is whispered in 
her ear three times, i.e., by saying to the 
girl three times, "Fatima, Fatima, Fatima 
— that is your name." The fortunate 
young lady therefore will forever have 
the favored name of Fatima. 

The child, as well as a grown-up man, is 
always known and called by the first name. 
For instance, if a boy's name is John, and 
his father's name is Albert, the boy is 
known as John bar, or Ben Albert, i. e., 
John after, or son of Albert. Very few 
have surnames, for there are no family 
names in Persia to hand down from one 
generation to another. Upon marrying, 
the girls never change their names. P * 
young lady's name was Almas bar Abdul- 
lah before her marriage, she would be 
known as such ever after. There is no 
word in the Persian vocabulary correspond- 
ing to the English word, "Mrs." In the 
higher grade of society a woman is known 
as "Khanum," meaning lady. If she is 



34 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

married to a man by the name "Mustafah" 
she would be known as Mustafah Khanum. 
The most common names in Persia are 
Ali, Hassan, Hosein, Gula and Abdul. 
Nearly ten per cent of the Persian boys 
are named Ali, and an equal number bear 
the name of Hassan and Hosein, etc. 
They are very fond of combining these 
names. One boy will be known as Abdul 
Hassan, and should his father have a title 
such as "Khan," he will be known as Ab- 
dul Hassan Khan. Should he become pro- 
ficient in his studies to the extent of being 
able to read and write well he will be 
known -as "Mirza." Therefore his full 
name would be Mirza Abdul Hassan Khan. 
There are several other names and titles 
a boy can have by making pilgrimages with 
his parents to various holy places. He can 
add the title of Meshadie by visiting the 
Mosque of Imam Eiza at the city of Me- 
shad, or that of Hadji 1 by going to Mecca 

i Hadji is the highest and most coveted religious title 
a Mohammedan can have. This and other religious titles 



TEE BIBTE AND CARE OF A CHILD 35 

and circling seven times the tomb of the 
Prophet Mohammed. 

The girls, not being able to travel, do 
not possess any religious titles. Often 
one will marry a Hadji or will induce her 
parents to take a journey so that she can 
boast about it. 

The most favored girl names in Persian 
are Fatima, Almas, Sheran, Lalla, and Ca- 
dija. The number of girls named after 
Fatima, the famous daughter of Moham- 
med, is greater than that of all other girls 
put together. 

The Evil Eye 

Persian children are extremely healthy, 
and if they had the modern scientific meth- 
ods in dealing with various epidemics 
there would be indeed very little sickness 
among them. 

The evil eye is always held responsible 
for a child 's sickness, when really the ill- 
are never inherited. In order to be obtained, the pil- 
grimage must be made by the person himself. 



36 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

ness is caused by the ignorance of mothers, 
grandmothers, and nurses; the latter ? s in- 
fluence being the most predominating fac- 
tor in a Persian household. 

Through the ignorance of their parents, 
the children are often subject to cruel treat- 
ment. I have seen with my own eyes lit- 
tle babies being bathed with cold water 
alongside a brook when the water was 
really too cold to drink. When the baby, 
from being exposed to cold weather, had 
pneumonia, the evil eye was blamed be- 
cause some one had seen the beautiful fig- 
ure of the infant being bathed and had for- 
gotten to say "Mashallah." * 

In order to frighten the unseen spirits 
the village folk stick on poles the skulls of 
animals and dress them up to look like 
half men and half beasts. 

To avoid the evil eye, strangers must not 
see the face of a baby for at least three 
months after its birth, and as soon as pos- 

i To protect the child from all these calamities the 
word "Mashallah" (God be Praised) must be repeated 
twice. 



THE BIRTH AND CARE OF A CHILD 37 

sible a priest must be consulted with regard 
to the safety of the child. In order to pre- 
vent a youngster from being molested by 
the evil eye the priest writes a prescrip- 
tion in Arabic made up with prayers and 
verses from the Koran. The document is 
then neatly folded and sewed in a little bag 
dotted with blue beads and fastened on 
the infant's right arm. 

Sometimes it was advisable to dress the 
youngster in very unbecoming clothes and 
keep it as unattractive as possible, for fear, 
if he should look too handsome, the unseen 
spirits might cause his sickness and death. 
I have seen ignorant parents fill a baby's 
eyes for several days after it was born with 
black powder. They believed by doing this 
the infant's eyes got stronger and more 
beautiful as they grew older. 

The precaution taken against the evil 
eye and unseen spirits are not by any 
means limited to what has been just said. 
It is thought to be very dangerous to leave 
children alone for fear that devils may 



38 WEEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

take them away. One way of preventing 
the children from being kidnapped by un- 
seen spirits, they say, is to throw a man's 
trousers on them. When the babies are 
left alone they believe that genii will come 
and nurse them. 

The following story illustrates the fear 
a mother entertains in her breast of devils 
and unseen spirits, and will perhaps make 
clear to the reader the great amount of 
stupidity and superstition still existing 
among the Christian inhabitants of Persia. 
An infant was not quite old enough to be 
left alone in the house for fear that one 
of the evil genii might take it away. It 
happened, however, that the mother of the 
baby found it necessary to pay a visit to 
some of her neighbors, and not having a 
nurse to care for the baby in her absence 
the question as to how the infant was to 
be cared for required a great deal of 
thought. Should the mother take it with 
her and expose it to the public eye? This 
she considered as dangerous as to leave 



THE BIRTH AND CARE OF A CHILD 39 

it -alone in the bouse. The mother finally 
decided to leave it at home, and as a pro- 
tection against the genii she placed on its 
breast a piece 'of bread, a pair of scissors, 
and a picture of Christ, and departed. 
Upon her return she was greatly surprised 
and amazed at the fact that the baby was 
not to be found where she left it. She 
began screaming, pulling her hair and 
shouting like a lunatic for fear the evil 
genii had stolen the baby. The fact of the 
matter was that the healthy youngster had 
rolled around and around until it was 
stopped by a big sack of flour and there it 
stayed hidden from his mother's eye. 
After carefully searching her house the 
mother found the baby behind the bag and 
just about that time the cock crowed, 
which was a warning sign. The next 
day she reported the case to the vil- 
lage priest by whom she was informed 
that the evil genii would steal chil- 
dren when they were not properly cared 
for by their parents, and that, "if you had 



40 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

not found it before the cock crew, you 
would never have seen it again!" The 
priest finally went to her home and by 
mentioning the name of Christ and the 
Cross, and by offering certain prayers, he 
drove away the intruders and thus pre- 
vented the genii from making a second at- 
tack on the child. 

Sickness and Epidemics 

Due to various epidemics, the life of a 
child is in great danger. The diseases 
which prevail in Persia are the ordinary 
diseases that one has in the United States. 
They are, however, more prevalent in Per- 
sia and appear in most aggravated forms. 

Thousands of children, through not be- 
ing vaccinated, die every year from small- 
pox. The year I had it several of my play- 
mates died with this loathsome disease, 
but through my mother's gentle and ten- 
der treatment my life and my body were 
spared from its effects. In order to pre- 
vent me from being marked she tied my 



THE BIRTH AND CARE OF A CHILD 41 

hands and kept me from scratching myself. 

Besides smallpox, children are affected 
with diphtheria, cholera, whooping cough, 
tuberculosis, nervous and mental ailments, 
all forms of eye trouble, and the ordinary 
fevers. Not having any maternity hospi- 
tals in Persia, naturally thousands of ba- 
bies die on account of not being properly 
attended. 

The treatment and suffering of children 
are due to the ignorance rather than to 
the fault of their parents. When children 
are ill they are never neglected or unat- 
tended. I have known parents to stay up 
all night watching over their sick child, and 
nothing was omitted by them that would 
reduce the suffering. I can frankly state 
that during my boyhood days in Persia I 
never saw mistreatment of children by 
their parents, and neither have I witnessed 
a man dragging his wife's name in the 
courts or molesting her in any way. In 
fact the men are extremely kind to their 
families. To corroborate this statement 



42 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

let me quote a few words of Dr. John GL 
Wishard, who lived and practiced medi- 
cine in Persia for over twenty years. He 
says : "Near by the hospital was a young 
mother who took cholera and her husband 
cared for her with great tenderness and 
thoughtfulness, but in spite of all that was 
done for her she grew rapidly worse. 
Finally she declined to take medicine and 
her husband, in his extreme anxiety for 
her recovery, remarking that the medicine 
was pleasant, put to his lips the spoon 
which she had been using. In a few hours 
he developed the disease, and in order to 
hide from his wife his own illness he ex- 
cused himself by saying that he must go 
to inquire concerning the welfare of his 
father's household. He died a few hours 
after his wife's death, without knowing 
that she had gone on before. They were 
buried with their new-born baby a few 
hours later." 

The epidemics in Persia come quite fre- 
quently, and their control is almost im- 



THE BIRTH AND CARE OF A CHILD 43 

possible, consequently when a child is born 
the parents, from the time of its birth un- 
til the baby has reached the age of ten 
years, look forward to these epidemics and 
ponder in their sadness how they can 
avoid them or cope with them. However, 
once a child has passed this dangerous 
age its troubles are almost over, and it is 
practically assured a long life. 



Ill 



SCHOOL-DAYS 



Education in Persia is far from being 
neglected. Mosques and Madrassas (com- 
mon schools) are in every village, and the 
boys are encouraged by their parents and 
friends to study and to become good stu- 
dents. There are, however, no scientific 
institutions of learning, and neither is 
there a college in Persia worthy of its name. 
On that account a great many Persian boys 
go abroad to study. 

In the afternoons, after school hours, 
frequently I used to meet a Mohammedan 
nobleman 1 who would stop me on my way 

i His name was Ahmad Riza and he had obtained the 
coveted Persian title, Khan, from the Shah of Persia. 
He was quite friendly with our family and often used to 
bring some fine tobacco to my grandfather. He claimed 
to have some knowledge of medicine. When my father 
was ill he made frequent trips to our house and gave his 

44 



SCHOOL-DAYS 45 

home and question me as to the progress 
I was making in school and the subjects 
I was studying. This gentleman was a 
fine Turkish scholar. He would occasion- 
ally prevail upon me to read my Turkish 
lesson to him. If I read well enough to 
suit his fastidious Turkish style, he would 
give me as a bakshish (present) a few 
Persian pennies, and pat me on the back 
saying, "Mashallah, Mashallah!" On the 
other hand, if I did not read as well as I 
should, he would say, "Inshallah, (in the 
name of God) you will do better next 
time." 

The Persian boys have, as a matter of 
fact, a great respect for their teachers, 
even though they are frequently punished 
with bastinado 1 and often very badly 

patient opium to smoke. He thought opium was the 
greatest cure for all sickness. 

i The bastinado is a mode of Persian punishment used 
for all kinds of crimes, by Government officials and by 
teachers as well. In the schools the culprit's feet are 
placed in two round holes in a wooden board, and he is 
punished on his bare feet. The number of strokes is 
regulated according to the misdemeanor. 



46 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

whipped. They look upon it more or less 
as a natural punishment because the young- 
sters are taught in their homes to respect 
•age and consider themselves the property 
of their teacher while they are studying un- 
der him. 

Starting to School 

There is no special age for children to 
start to school, as it all depends on their 
parents. I, personally, do not remember 
the day I began my studies. 

It is customary for parents to take the 
children to school the first day to introduce 
them to the teacher. After their parents 
get through telling the teacher about the 
methods he should employ in training the 
boys, most of them feel sorry that they 
are old enough to go to school. For, when 
they deliver their child to the gentle keep- 
ing of the professor the parents say, "We 
have brought our boy to your school. His 
bones are ours, but his flesh is yours. 
Teach him and punish him as you see fit." 



SCHOOL-DAYS 47 

Due to the cruel treatment of the teachers 
there is no joy and gladness among the 
Persian boys at the opening of the school 
year such as one sees in America. 

My Early Ideas and Studies 

The principal studies taught in our 
school were reading, writing, spelling, 
arithmetic, geography, languages, reli- 
gions, and poetry. Of the poetry the Per- 
sians study most fervently and zealously 
the < < Gulistan "of Sadi. The ' < Gulistan ' ' 
(Eose Garden) teaches lessons of morality 
and wisdom. It is the work next to the 
Koran, and is a moral guide to the Persian 
youth. If two students were in conversa- 
tion, it would not take long even for one 
who knew nothing about the Persian lan- 
guage, to detect the name of Sadi. * ' Sadi 
guft," or "Sadi says," is used very fre- 
quently in their speeches. Here are some 
of the poet's famous phrases: "There is 
no better ornament for the ignorant than 
silence, and did he but know this he would 



48 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

not be ignorant." "A learned man with- 
out practice is a bee without honey." "A 
student without the inclination to learn is 
a lover without money," and, "A devotee 
without learning is a house without a 
door. ' ' x 

Other poetical works taught to a Per- 
sian student are those of Hafiz, Fardausi, 
Nizami, Kumi, and Jami. The works of 
gafer (ungodly) Omar Khayyam, with the 
exception of those dealing with astronomy 
and mathematics, are hardly ever taught. 
I frankly confess that, while in Persia, I 
was not acquainted with his famous Eu- 
baiyat. In fact I was quite surprised to 
find my countryman so popular in America. 

My favorite studies were religion and 
geography, because there was so much mys- 
tery connected with both of these subjects. 
When my schoolmaster told me that this 
world was round and that the sun and the 
moon did not move, my immediate atti- 

* See Mr. Edward B. Eastwick's English translation of 
the "Gulistan" of Sadi. 



SCHOOL-DAYS 49 

tude toward him was that of a "man from 
Missouri." I wanted to be "shown." 
The mere fact that he placed the globe in 
front of me was no proof. To me the 
world was flat, and, as I gazed at the bine 
sky and saw the canopy of the heavens 
touching the earth, I conceived the idea 
that if one would go far enough he would 
actually touch the sky and could go no far- 
ther. Also I could see no reason for big 
oceans, as no man lived on them, and they 
were not used for irrigation purposes. 

My childish idea of God was similar to 
that of John Fiske when he was a boy. I 
pictured the Almighty as a handsome, 
powerful man, with a long white beard and 
hair, and exquisite robes of all colors em- 
broidered with gold and silver, sitting on 
the golden throne holding a long staff and 
judging mankind. I also thought that he 
saw, knew, and heard everything and 
everybody, and if I did wrong or disobeyed 
my parents I would be displeasing the Al- 
mighty and I would have to answer for it 



50 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

on the day of Judgment. 1 The latter idea 
has never left me. 

The different religious teachings and 
sects were a mystery to me. My mother's 
father being a Presbyterian clergyman, I, 
of course, became Presbyterian. At a 
very early age I began going to my grand- 
father 's church. I was never sent to the 
Sunday school, but, to be sure that I got 
there, my mother always took me with her. 

When old enough I used to ask my grand- 
father why he called himself and the rest 
of the family Presbyterians and what the 
significance of this word was. His answer 
would be that I was too young to ask such 
questions. "If I am too young to ask such 
questions, ' ' I would then say to him, ' i don 't 
you think that I am also too young to be 
a Presbyterian ?" When I insisted he 
would scold and rebuke me and discourage 
me from asking any theological questions. 

The most perplexing question in my 
whole school-days in Persia was that of 

i Cf. John Fiske, "The Idea of God," p. 116. 



SCHOOL-DAYS 51 

evolution. I often used to wonder to my- 
self why this world was created. As a 
child I feared death dreadfully, and I could 
not understand why my mother, who was 
so kind and so pretty, would some day have 
to die. 

I used to wish that I could be among the 
stars and see how they were fastened to 
the sky. The question as to how the rain, 
snow, and the round hail were made, also 
perplexed me. And, as I looked day after 
day on the Kurdish mountains and always 
found them on the same spot, I used to 
wonder why they were not moving, and 
if they were not tired of standing still so 
long. There being so many in the same 
row, I wondered whether they were friends 
and understood each other and, if not, why 
they were so grouped, some large and some 
small. 

I used to feel very sorry for flowers. To 
see them, in the spring of the year, bloom- 
ing and looking beautiful, and then, within 
a few days, all withered, was to me very 



52 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

pathetic. I loved the wild flowers to such 
<an extent that I would refrain from pick- 
ing them. Persia is noted for its roses 
and hyacinths. The flowers are seldom 
cultivated but grow wild everywhere in 
beauty and in great variety. Graveyards 
dn the Persian villages are full of wild 
flowers and thorns, but the boys would not 
attempt to pluck a rose in such a place. 

My language studies were comparatively 
easy. The languages taught were Turkish, 
Syriac, Persian Arabic and English, and, 
when a boy finished his education he was 
pretty well acquainted with almost all of 
these languages. 

My Mother's Only Punishment of Me 

My parents always favored the Persian 
teacher's method of using the rod, and 
whenever I reported the teacher for pun- 
ishing me I was, of course, told that it was 
my fault and that I deserved it. I dis- 
tinctly remember one cold winter day when, 
after I had received what I thought to be 



SCHOOLDAYS 53 

an unjust punishment, I fled from school 
and went home. Knowing what might 
happen, I was unwilling to tell my mother 
(the cause of my being out of school so early. 
She, however, pressed me for the reason. 
I finally confessed, and furthermore I said 
I did not intend to go back to school and 
study under the same teacher that had pun- 
ished me with a switch. I soon found that 
I had made these remarks to the wrong 
person. The fact that I was out of school 
before it closed was, according to my 
mother, sufficient evidence of my guilt. 
She sent me out of the house immediately 
and advised me to go to my schoolmaster 
and apologize. Instead I persisted in stay- 
ing in the yard and debating about what I 
should do. But my leaving the school and 
then disobeying her orders displeased my 
mother immensely, so she came out and 
without my expecting it, threw me in the 
newly fallen snow, and gave me her best 
and her only punishment and sent me back 
to our little seminary. 



54 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

There was no use then to tell Father 
about the affair, because, whenever Mother 
scolded me, I not only never received any 
sympathy from him, but, for some reason, 
he was always pleased, and laughed at my 
misfortunes. I really believe that the 
cause of his enjoyment over my being 
scolded by my mother was jealousy, as I 
was always in the way when he wanted to 
love my mother, because I wanted to love 
her myself. 

Therefore there was nothing more for 
me to do but go to the school and face the 
tyrant. When I entered the room there 
was <a great silence. No one, for fear of 
the teacher, looked at me, except the school- 
master himself, and he gave me a cha- 
grined look and an unpleasant smile. 
Realizing my position because of the exist- 
ing sentiment in my home I went (to the 
disappointment of all the pupils) and hum- 
bly apologized. The boys could not under- 
stand my attitude. They were all looking 
for some one to break up the school and 



SCHOOL-DAYS 55 

humiliate the teacher. In fact, had I gone 
in the beginning to one of my uncles, who 
had no education and who really despised 
any kind of teaching, there is no doubt 
that the boys' hopes would have been 
realized. 

This teacher, even though we are taught 
by our parents to respect him, was indeed 
a very cruel man. He used to whip the 
boys on the palm of the hand, and, if the 
switch broke in the course of punishment, 
the young culprit was made to go out in 
the yard and bring a new stick with which 
he received further switching. No one 
dared to withdraw his hand when he was 
ordered to hold it out, for, if the boy with- 
drew his hand, burning from the effect of 
the switch, he would be whipped on the 
back and legs. The boy that was thus be- 
ing punished would twitch right and left 
but would not cry or yell, for that would 
not have been manly. The worst of it was 
that this teacher continued to be our mas- 
ter for a long time. He, finally, to the joy 



56 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

of everybody, and for his own good, de- 
cided not to return to our school. By that 
time some of the boys had grown older and 
stronger and had decided, if he raised a 
switch on any of them in the future, that 
they were going to thrash him right in the 
schoolroom. 

The causes for punishing the pupils were 
trifling in comparison with the severity of 
the punishment. For every misspelled 
word or unprepared lesson, as well as for 
every mischievous eye or idle look, a pun- 
ishment was given. "When I did not know 
my lessons, which frequently happened, to 
escape punishment I played sick and not 
having a doctor to verify my symptoms 
my ruse invariably worked very well. But 
at meal time, suddenly I would change 
from a very feverish boy to a healthy in- 
dividual with great appetite. 

At the age of fifteen I had practically 
mastered all the subjects offered by our 
village school. My greatest progress was 
made during the period when my cousin 



SCHOOL-DAYS 57 

was the master of our school and reduced 
the whipping of the boys to a minimum. 

The Method of Teaching, the Teacher's 
Pay, and the School Hours 

There were no chairs or desks in our 
school. The pupils usually sat on reed 
matting in two rows, one along one wall 
and the other row on the opposite side, with 
the teacher in the center of the room, close 
to the stove or the fireplace. 

A short distance from our school there 
was a little Mohammedan seminary. In 
studying they would rock back and forth, 
droning aloud in a singsong fashion. 
Sometimes one could hear them a block 
away. But our method of study was pat- 
terned after the American institutions, and 
if any one studied aloud it was considered 
a misdemeanor. The Mohammedan boys, 
on the other hand, asserted that studying 
aloud helped them to remember their les- 
sons. 

All the boys, except of course when 



58 WHEN. I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

studying English, read and wrote from 
right to left. Not having any desks we 
put our left knee on the floor and our right 
one up as a rest for our papers or our lit- 
tle blackboard. 

In Persia the teachers are very poorly 
paid. In fact my teacher never received 
as a salary more than ten dollars a month. 
His board did not cost him much, however, 
as he was usually entertained by some 
of his pupils 7 families, and the cruel 
teacher's presence in the homes of his pu- 
pils was extremely offensive to the stu- 
dents. On the other hand, if he were good 
and kind to them they would frequently 
go without playing and without things that 
they enjoyed in order to be in their homes 
while their teacher was entertained by the 
family. 

In some Persian schools where the 
teacher receives no salary, each student 
pays him from five to twenty-five cents a 
month, and those who can not pay are ad- 




Hi 
O 

§ 
z 

i 

W 



SCHOOL-DAYS 59 

mitted free. The schoolmaster's food is 
also provided by his pupils. 

With the exception of a few missionary 
schools there are no Persian schools for 
girls. Consequently when a girl in our 
village received any education at all it was 
from private tutors. 

There were no timepieces in our schools, 
and neither were there any school bells. 
The teacher called the students in whenever 
it suited his convenience. The students 
were first informed as to the time their 
school started in the morning by the sound 
of the wooden school-board. The board 
was about six inches wide and twelve inches 
long, and about an inch thick. When it 
was time for school to commence the board 
was held by a handle with the left hand 
and was given successive strokes with a 
wooden school tokhmokh (hammer) held 
in the right hand. As soon as the boys 
heard the sound of the school-board they 
would begin to go in at once. 



60 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

The school hours were from eight or nine 
a. m. to two or three in the afternoon and, 
not having any clocks, the time was natur- 
ally observed by the position of the sun. 
During the day, besides our lunch hour, 
we had two short recesses. Saturday 
mornings we had to go to school, so as 
weekly holidays we had only Sunday and 
half of Saturday. The Mohammedans 
and the Jewish boys, being of different 
faith, had Friday and Sunday for their 
holidays. 

The school year was about eight months 
long, and sometimes even longer. But if 
one desired to continue his studies he could 
go to school all the year around, with the 
exception of six hot weeks in summer. I 
remember attending even a summer school 
in Persia, and not being old enough to go 
by myself as the school was a good dis- 
tance from my home, I was accompanied 
by my mother or by some one else. 

Our school celebration came in May. 
Every one looked upon that day with a 



SCHOOL-DAYS 61 

great deal of joy and anticipation. The 
boys prepared for it weeks beforehand. 
They memorized poetry and took part in 
a play prepared by the teacher. On such 
occasions their parents, friends and neigh- 
bors, and the town dignitaries were pres- 
ent. Every pupil tried to obtain more ap- 
plause than his comrades at these perform- 
ance. Once, however, the celebration was 
over, the students quickly packed their 
books under their arms and went home re- 
joicing. 



IV 

PERSIAN GAMES, AMUSEMENTS AND 
MASSALIE (STORIES) 

There are a great many games played in 
Persia, but I am going to describe only 
those in which I actually took part and 
which are played mainly by the boys. 

Hat in the Ring 

"Hat in the Bing" is played in the fall 
of the year in orchards and in hayfields. 
We first made a circle two or three feet 
in diameter, then we tossed up a coin, and 
the one that lost threw his hat in the ring 
and stood with one foot touching the edge 
of the circle, guarding it. The boys would 
then try to kick the hat and knock it out. 
The owner, in order to protect his hat, had 
to touch the boy who was kicking it. When 

02 



PERSIAN GAMES 68 

the hat is kicked out of the ring every boy 
in the game takes a crack at it (just like 
playing hockey in America), until the 
owner saves his hat by running after the 
boys and touching the last one who gave 
his hat a kick. 

The game is thus kept up until the boys 
get tired or until they are stopped by their 
parents. The latter did not like the game 
because it was so destructive to hats. 

On account of our parents' objections 
we were not allowed by our teacher to play 
it at school, but as soon as school was out 
we went into a field and some boy's hat, 
after the necessary matching, went into 
the ring. 

My own parents strongly objected to this 
game. As I was the only child, they 
bought me fine black hats covered with 
Persian lambskin. In the summer a Per- 
sian wears silk caps, or sometimes, a 
Turkish fez. These hats were too expen- 
sive and fragile for the game. The hat 
that was most suitable for the purpose was 



64 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

a very unattractive hard felt hat, usually 
worn by the farmers. I remember one 
evening, after playing "Hat in the Ring," 
I went to my mother with mud up to my 
knees and my good hat ruined. Natur- 
ally I was scolded, and told that if I 
wanted to play Borkum topa (Kick the 
Hat) I would have to wear the Persian 
felt hat. To that arrangement I immedi- 
ately consented. I preferred wearing a 
felt hat and playing the game to wearing a 
fine hat and watching the boys play. 

The worst thing about this game was, 
that no one could use a hat other than 
the one that he was wearing. One time 
one of the boys pulled out an old cap from 
his pocket and placed it in the ring. The 
boys considered that unfair and he was 
therefore ruled out of the game. 

To a Persian, a hat is the most sacred 
article of his wearing apparel. There is 
nothing that will cause a boy to declare 
war on one of his playmates, or anybody 
else, for that matter, sooner than to have 



PERSIAN GAMES 65 

his hat knocked off his head. To submit 
to such an act would reflect upon his manli- 
ness to such an extent as positively to keep 
him awake at night until he had taken his 
vengeance. I distinctly remember running 
after my own father, with my little fist 
clenched, because he had knocked my hat 
off. Had he not moved faster than I did 
there is no doubt but that there would have 
been trouble in the family. To make 
everything all right, he approached me 
after I had completely calmed down and 
promised me a new suit of clothes. 

Wrestling 

Wrestling is to the Persian boys and men 
what baseball is to the Americans. It is 
their national sport and every male takes 
part in it when young. There are a great 
many tricks used by the participants. 
They tell all kinds of tales in connection 
with champion wrestlers. One is as fol- 
lows: One of the champions, having 
wrestled so long, had acquired three hun- 



66 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

dred and sixty tricks. He taught a favor- 
ite pupil all of them except one. After 
that the pupil, conscious of his great 
strength, boasted to everybody that not 
even his professor dared offer him a 
match. Unable to stand the humiliation 
the teacher challenged him. An extensive 
ring was prepared for the occasion and the 
Shah and all the wrestlers of state at- 
tended the match. The youth first entered 
the arena. He was strong and healthy, 
but his boyish appearance made an in- 
stant appeal to every spectator and the 
cry arose, "Save him, save him!" The 
young wrestler laughed at them, however, 
and demanded to proceed with the match. 
Then came the champion, who plainly 
showed that his age was against him. The 
audience then changed their minds and 
feared that for him to tackle the young 
giant was an act of folly. The champion 
realized that his pupil was superior to 
him in strength, but there was his trick, 
and that was his only hope. He therefore 




Persian Wrestlers. 



PERSIAN GAMES 67 

attacked his pupil with the hold which he 
had kept for himself. The youth, not be- 
ing able to cope with this trick, was lifted 
from the ground and thrown flat on his 
back. Thus the champion retained his 
title, "The Great Professor of Wrestling." 

In Persia they have a saying, "Put not 
yourself so much in the power of your 
friend that if he should be disposed to be 
mimical he may be able to effect his pur- 
pose." And have you not heard what was 
said by a sage who had suffered injury 
from one whom he had educated? "I 
never taught any one the art of archery 
who, in the end, did not make a target of 
me." The Persian boys, because of this, 
never teach a new wrestling trick to any- 
body. A good wrestling trick is one of the 
most valued possessions of a boy. 

We used to wrestle in the winter on the 
housetops, and, in the summer, in the hay- 
fields. Wherever there were three or four 
boys together a wrestling match would 
usually begin. The older boys and men 



68 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

made the matches by selecting the boys ac- 
cording to their age and strength. There 
was only one boy in our village near my 
own age whom I could not throw. He was 
a thorn in my flesh. I often used to stay 
awake at nights hoping and praying that I 
could defeat him. I was not the only one 
that worried over it. My father used to 
scold me. My uncles, and especially my 
grandfather Mirza, who expected me to 
follow in his footsteps, were much con- 
cerned over it. Curious as it may seem, 
when training I used to eat all kinds of 
sweets and highly seasoned food, but with 
all that, the envied boy still held the wrest- 
ling championship in the town. 

The wrestling matches among the men 
are very serious, as one fall may rob a 
young man of the girl whom he wants to 
marry. The girls know the boys only by 
their families and by their strength. The 
young man who is a champion wrestler is 
naturally the talk of the town, and, in fact, 
very few girls would refuse to marry him. 



PERSIAN GAMES 69 

The Persian wrestlers take such a keen 
interest in this sport that they would not 
let a stranger who boasts of his strength 
pass through their town without challeng- 
ing him to a bout. Some years ago one 
of the English circus companies was mak- 
ing a tour of Persia. In Teheran one of 
its members used a trick which gave the 
impression that he was the strongest man 
in the world. He took a mat full of nails 
(which were, incidentally, rubber), and, 
spreading it on the floor, he lay on it. 
Then an elephant was brought in and made 
to kneel over the man, giving the impres- 
sion that the animal was being supported 
by him. The whole trick was accomplished 
without injury to the trickster. Upon see- 
ing this one of the Persian wrestlers, 
called Lotie Bashie (head of the sports) 
immediately challenged him. The crowd 
cheered and shouted, but the trickster re- 
fused the challenge, which broke up the 
whole performance. 



70 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

Tops and Marbles 

The top-spinning season comes in winter 
and is looked forward to by the boys with 
a great deal of pleasant anticipation. The 
tops are made of Persian walnut and are 
similar in shape to those used by Amer- 
ican boys. The only difference is that 
Persian tops are a little larger and flat 
at the top. In playing the game, the boys 
first give their tops to one of the players. 
He takes them in both hands and tosses 
them in the air. The top that does not 
fall on its flat surface is left for the boys 
to pick on. The players hold their tops 
in their left hands, and a cord attached 
to the third finger of the right hand is 
wrapped around the tops. Then, from a 
distance of five or six feet they whirl the 
top with the right hand at the one on the 
ground. If they miss it they lift their top 
with two fingers and quickly placing it, 
while spinning, in the palm of the hand 
try again to touch the other top. If one 



PERSIAN GAMES 71 

is unable to strike the top aimed at, or 
fails to touch it with his top while it is 
spinning in the palm of his hand, he must 
put his own on the ground to be picked 
on by the other tops. I have seen tops go 
into the game beautifully varnished and 
painted with all the colors of the rainbow, 
but, after the game, they looked as if they 
had been through a bad case of smallpox. 
Frequently, in the course of the game, tops 
were made useless by having the spinning 
nail knocked out of them. 

The top games are usually played on the 
roofs of unoccupied houses. To discover 
whether the house might be inhabited, we 
pushed our heads through the skylight and 
if we saw nobody we began our game. Our 
parents never allowed us to use the tops 
of our own houses as the spinning tops 
would riddle the roof and make it leak in 
rainy weather. 

Another game which we greatly enjoyed 
was playing with marbles. Persian boys 
use the bones from the joints of sheep, 



72 (WHEN I WA8 A BOY IN PERSIA 

goats, and lambs for ashog (marbles). 
Each animal furnished us with two mar- 
bles. So whenever slaughtering took place 
in our village the boys congregated to get 
the envied bones. The game is played 
somewhat like the American game of dice, 
the way the marbles fall determining 
which one wins. Playing with loaded mar- 
bles was entirely legitimate. We bought 
and sold marbles among ourselves. The 
usual price for five marbles was one penny. 
A loaded marble, on account of usually 
falling on the winning side, was worth two 
pennies, or ten ordinary bones. 

Buffalo, Ram, and Cock Fights and 
Other Amusements 

The Persian buffaloes are entirely un- 
like the buffaloes that one sees in America. 
They are far better-looking and are useful 
domestic animals. We use them for carry- 
ing heavy loads, for plowing, and milk- 
ing. In fact the buffalo milk is much su- 
perior to that of a Persian cow. 



PERSIAN GAMES 73 

I had a buffalo that was unusually good- 
looking and very intelligent. Its fore- 
head, part of its tail, and its ankles were 
as white as snow. I always had its fore- 
head and tail dyed a dark reddish color 
with henna. This buffalo was trained. 
When I wanted to get on its back I used to 
touch it gently with my chomakhta (club) 
between its horns and the buffalo would 
bow its head low enough so that I could 
put my right foot between its big horns. 
I would then get hold of its back with my 
hands, and, when I said "Lift," I would 
be lifted and placed on its back. I used 
to ride it in the streets and hayfields, and 
often when it was grazing I went to sleep 
on its back and fell off. In the heat of 
the summer I used to bathe it twice a day. 
I had a very simple method to make it lie 
down in the water, or any other place. If 
I gave its tail a little squeeze the buffalo 
flopped itself in the desired spot and would 
not get up without being ordered. As it 
was the female of the species, even with 



74 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

all my inducements, it did not participate 
in big fights. 

The male buffalo fights are events which 
one never would want to miss. I used to 
go miles to see one. The news of a 
buffalo fight spreads in the towns and 
villages just like the sound of a fire 
alarm does in America. The fight usually 
occurs in the spring when the buffaloes are 
turned out of the dark stables where they 
have been kept during the winter. "When 
taken out they are always guarded by their 
owners with big clubs. Occasionally, how- 
ever, when two strange buffaloes see each 
other they will make a charge, and their 
crash is just like two powerful giants 
coming together. Eopes and clubs are 
furnished to separate them. Should the 
people be unable to pull them apart 
they sometimes fight a whole morning 
or afternoon. When one of them begins 
to get tired or is outmatched it will 
bellow which is a sure sign that it is pre- 
paring to run from its opponent. The 



PERSIAN GAMES 75 

victorious buffalo will pursue it for two or 
three miles. If caught by its adversary 
the weaker one will either turn and make 
another stand or fall flat and bellow for 
mercy. I have seen buffaloes nearly torn 
to pieces in such fights. These battles are 
so ferocious that it frightens people even 
to dream about them. They say to dream 
of buffaloes fighting means that angels 
will come for the soul of some member of 
the family. 

Ram Fights 

The ram fights are usually managed by 
grown people, but occasionally we boys who 
were lucky enough to own rams enjoyed the 
sport among ourselves. The Persian rams 
are large, have a great tail which may 
weigh from thirty-five to fifty pounds, arid 
fight with their big horns. They are natu- 
rally white, red, or brown. If they are 
white all over, they are painted with red, 
green, yellow or other colors to make them 
attractive, The rams are led with chains 



76 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

by their masters. They are fed on fresh 
alfalfa, oats, or wheat. The owners take 
their rams from place to place to make en- 
gagements. When the bouts are arranged 
they are taken to the parks. Upon being 
set free both rams withdraw for a certain 
distance and dash forward, hitting each 
other squarely on the head. The fight is 
thus kept up until one of them refuses to 
fight. The victorious ram, unlike the buf- 
falo, rarely follows the defeated one, but 
returns to his master and gives him a look 
of pride and satisfaction. 

Cock Fighting 

This sport in Persia is universally prac- 
ticed both among men and boys. In our lit- 
tle village I dare say that every male 
youngster had a game rooster. The fights 
are usually held in the winter in the stables 
or on the housetops. 

We always raised a good many chickens. 
Among the flock I would find fighters, and 



PERSIAN GAMES 77 

the one that showed the best prospects I 
separated from the rest of the tribe and 
began giving it a course of training. In 
order to keep it in fighting trim I prepared 
a dark nest for it in our stable and fed it 
raw meat, raisins, and nuts. Whenever I 
took the rooster out for a fight my grand- 
father allowed me to give it a thimbleful 
of wine. This was done so that the fowl 
would not recognize its opponent, as when 
sober, if defeated, it would not fight the 
same one again. 

The bird that I had for fighting was 
trained just like a parrot. As soon as it 
had won a battle it would stand up, flap its 
wings, give a loud crow, and wait for me 
to take it home. On the other hand, if 
defeated, it simply made a quick run to 
the place where it was kept. 

There are a great many other amuse- 
ments that furnish pleasure to the Persian 
boys. We did not have skates or sleds, 



78 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

but often went out sledding on the ice. We 
also had snowball battles in the streets 
and on the housetops. 

Every year we had a man with a monkey 
visiting our town. The bear man used to 
make his trips annually. He came and 
entertained everybody by wrestling with 
his own bear and making it dance. Occa- 
sionally one of the strong men in our town 
challenged the visitor. I remember one 
time the bear, in wrestling with a strong 
man, almost broke the man's back. 

An old man from Kurdistan came every 
spring with a fake horse. It was the head 
•of a wooden horse tied about his waist and 
decorated with shawls and jewelry. He 
went all over the town, in the streets and 
on the housetops, running after this boy 
and that boy, shaking his horse's head at 
us and trying to collect money from our 
parents. 

Rope-dancing used to give us more pleas- 
ure than anything else as it brought 
with it a band and music. The band con- 



PERSIAN GAMES 79 

sisted of only two pieces, a great, big 
drum and a shepherd's flute. During the 
performance the band would play some 
minor Persian tunes and love songs. The 
rope-dancing company was made up of a 
father and two of his sons. The father 
played the drum, the older son the flute, and 
the younger son danced and walked the 
rope. After the performance they always 
took up a collection from the audience, go- 
ing first to Ketkhoda, the head man of the 
village. As soon as the leader had re- 
ceived the money he would beat his drum 
and tell the audience how much the Ket- 
khoda had contributed. Then he would 
take the men, one by one, until he had ob- 
tained the desired amount, when the circus 
ended. 

The Persian Massalie {or Stories) 

The Persians are lovers of stories, mirth, 
and wisdom. They take great delight in 
repeating quotations from their poets, 
learned men and jesters. Their proverbs, 



80 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

phrases, and folklore are looked upon as 
great treasures and are handed down from 
father to son. The joy and mirth are be- 
yond measure when the massalie are re- 
cited by a gifted story-teller, for he makes 
expressive motions with his head, hands, 
and body when emphasizing a good point. 

When a son does a foolish act or utters 
an unwise remark his father, as a punish- 
ment, will liken him unto a foolish man 
by narrating a tale that fits the purpose. 

The following stories are frequently 
quoted by the Persians, and they are lis- 
tened to with a great deal of enthusiasm. 
They are told in connection with Mullah 
Nezralden, a Mohammedan priest, who was 
at one time greatly beloved by his flock, 
but, on account of his foolish remarks, he 
fell from grace and the people began mak- 
ing fun of him. These massalie have been 
translated by the author from the original 
and are cited here as an example of what 
arouses a Persian's laughter. 

Before commencing let us, like all true 



PERSIAN GAMES 81 

Persians who recite tales, invoke the bless- 
ing of the deity on the reader, listener and 
the story-teller by first saying, "Bisrnil- 
lah- el Rahamone el Rahum," meaning 
"In the Name of God, the Merciful, the 
Compassionate ": 

The Mullah and the Jew 

Mullah was a good Mohammedan and 
never failed to say his prayers. As time 
went by and his financial condition became 
serious, he asked Allah to send him one 
thousand tomans (dollars). A Jew, who 
was his neighbor, heard his prayers. As 
a joke he took nine hundred and ninety- 
nine tomans and dropped them in a bag 
through the window, saying, "My servant, 
I have heard your prayers, now take the 
money which you asked for ! ' J Mullah re- 
joiced over his fortune. He took the 
money and, counting it, found one dollar 
less than he had asked for, and said, "Al- 
lah is just, perhaps he has made a mistake 
in counting the money, and maybe he has 



82 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

counted the purse for one toman. I am 
satisfied with what Allah has given me." 
When the Jew heard these words he became 
nervous. He immediately came down and 
knocked on the door. Mullah opened the 
door and said, "Yahoda, what do you 
want?" The Jew answered, "That purse 
and money are mine. I want you to give 
them to me." Mullah answered, "You 
are foolish; this is a gift from Allah. 
What have you got to do with it?" "You 
blockhead," said the Jew, "this is my 
money. I dropped it to you from the win- 
dow. ' ' Mullah and the Jew were not able 
to come to an agreement, so they took their 
case before a tribunal. Mullah was too 
old to walk and was entirely too ragged 
to appear before the judge, so he asked 
the Jew if he would be kind enough to give 
him his mule to ride, and also an overcoat ; 
then he would go to the court. The Jew 
was obliged to satisfy the Mohammedan. 
Before the judge the Jew protested, "The 
money is mine." Mullah said, "He is not 



PERSIAN GAMES 83 

telling the truth, and besides, Jews are al- 
ways blaming the believers and causing 
them a great deal of trouble. Now I am 
afraid you will tell the judge that this mule 
and overcoat are yours.' ' The Jew an- 
swered, "Why of course they are mine, 
even the prophet, Moses, knows I am right 
about it!" This reply caused the judge 
to become angry, so he pronounced the 
truthful Jew to be a falsifier and punished 
him with the bastinado. So the ' ' believer ' ' 
fell heir to nine hundred and ninety-nine 
tomans besides obtaining under false pre- 
tenses the mule and the coat of the Jew. 

The Mullah and His Lamb 

Mullah Nezralden had a young lamb. 
His friends got together and tried to work 
a scheme whereby they could kill the lamb. 
They came to him and said, "Most learned 
of the learned, suppose to-morrow should 
be the millennium ; come and let us kill the 
lamb, eat, drink, and enjoy ourselves, for 
to-morrow we shall die." Mullah con- 



84 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

sented. After dinner the sun became very 
hot, so they thought nothing would be more 
agreeable than to go bathing. They took 
off all their clothes and went into the 
water. While they were swimming Mullah 
set fire to their clothes and burned them. 
When they were through with their swim 
they came out to put on their clothes but 
they could not find them anywhere. They 
appealed to Mullah and he said, "I burned 
them." "What a foolish act!" they all 
cried. i i Why, you yourselves, ' 9 responded 
Mullah, "said to-morrow would be the 
millennium. Now, after the millennium, 
what is the use of having clothes ? ' ' 

Mullah and the Grace of God 

One day Mullah Nezralden was going 
to the city to buy something. A friend 
met him on the way and asked, "Mullah, 
where are you going?" Mullah answered, 
"To the city to buy something." His 
friend said, "Why, you fool, don't you say, 



PERSIAN GAMES 85 

'By the grace of God I am going to the 
city'?" Mullah replied, " Money is in my 
pocket, brains are in my head, and the 
stuff is in the market; then why should it 
be necessary to say 'By the grace of 
Allah'?" As soon as he got in the city a 
pickpocket stole his money, so Mullah re- 
turned home in great disappointment. 
His friend met him again and asked him, 
"What did you buy?" He answered, "A 
pickpocket stole my money, by the grace 
of God." 

In a Field of Cabbages 

Mullah Nezralden went out with a bag 
in his hand into a field of cabbages. He 
looked this way and that way, and not see- 
ing anybody began pulling the heads of 
cabbage and putting them into his bag. 
Suddenly the owner of the field came and 
saw him. "Who are you and what are you 
doing?" asked the owner. Mullah was 
excited, but finally answered, "I was 



86 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

passing by and a whirlwind threw me in 
here." "Well, as you >are a priest, there 
is no doubt that you speak truthfully, but 
who pulled this cabbage?" Mullah an- 
swered, "The whirlwind was so strong, in 
order not to be lifted up in the air I took 
hold of the cabbage and it came up by its 
roots." "Be that as it may," said the 
owner, "who put it in the bag?" 
"Wonders will never cease," answered 
Mullah, "I cannot even understand this 
myself!" 

What Becomes of the Old Moon 

In the month 1 of Nourooz, when the 
people were having the great New Year 
festival, they began debating the question 
as to what becomes of the old moon when 
the new moon appears. Unable to solve 
the problem they finally took it to Mullah 
for his interpretation. The Mullah, after 
giving it serious consideration, said to 

i The Persian year, being lunar, the New Year falls in 
the summer as well as it does in the winter. 



PERSIAN GAMES 87 

them: "Ah, you fools, at your age can 
you not understand this simple problem? 
The moon is beaten into small bits and 
made into stars." 



MARRIAGES AND WEDDING CEREMONIES 

Marriages in Persia are frequently ar- 
ranged by the parents and often they are 
planned years before the ceremony takes 
place. When two good friends have the 
happiness to have one a daughter and the 
other a son it is considered a sufficient rea- 
son for a perfect match. In order to ac- 
complish this purpose, their children must 
be married as soon as possible, or else 
upon growing up they may completely ruin 
the plans of their parents. Hence the 
early marriages. The boys and girls are 
usually married between the ages of fif- 
teen and twenty. There are no bachelors 
and spinsters in Persia, nor even the words 
in the Persian vocabulary, as it is consid- 
ered <a great sin not to marry. In the years 
that I spent there I never saw or heard of 

88 



MARRIAGES 89 

any man or woman who had reached the 
age of maturity that was not enjoying his 
or her own family life. 

Selecting a Sweetheart 

The universal idea that the Persian 
young men and women have no chance 
whatever in selecting their wives or hus- 
bands is exaggerated. The parents natu- 
rally make plans for them and recommend 
that a certain one will make a better mate 
than the other, and the children, being 
obedient, usually take their advice; but 
they are not always compelled to abide by 
the decisions of their parents. I remem- 
ber when I was twelve years old my mother 
had somebody in view for me. As I was 
the only child, she wanted me to get mar- 
ried as early as possible. But I frankly 
told her that I did not want a wife, and 
whenever she mentioned the subject of 
matrimony before me I would begin to cry, 
so the subject was dropped because she 
could not get my consent. 



90 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

In the case of the marriage of a girl her 
consent must always be obtained, and if 
she says, "No," even on the last day, the 
marriage and agreement, should there be 
any between the parents, becomes null and 
void. For this reason the majority of the 
parents allow their boys and girls to decide 
their future plans and select their own 
sweethearts in their own way. 

In selecting a sweetheart the following 
method is sometimes employed. When a 
young man has reached the age of man- 
hood and finds no suitable girl in his own 
town, he begins to visit his friends and 
relatives in far-off towns and cities. 
While thus visiting he confesses to them 
his mission. They naturally know a few 
girls, and he is then told all they know 
about them, their parents and parents ' 
parents, and whether any of the girls, to 
their knowledge, have ever been kissed. 
This would debar any girl in Persia from 
marrying into a good family. 

There is no courting in Persia, in the 



MARRIAGES 91 

American sense of the word. Neither are 
there any games such as post-office, or 
standing under the mistletoe. The boys do 
not take the girls to the theaters, dances, 
or dinners. When they have any dances 
the boys dance with boys, and the girls 
with girls. In short, they are not supposed 
to meet and get acquainted except when 
both parties are contemplating marriage, 
and even then the meeting must be in the 
presence of the girPs father. 

In order to arrange this meeting the 
boy must, of course, have some excuse, so 
he immediately becomes an agent for his 
father or uncles to buy whatever the young 
lady's father has to sell. If the girl 'is 
father has nothing to sell, the youth will 
call anyway, with the hope of taking a 
glance at the girl. When the boy calls, 
usually with one or two of his chums, the 
girl's father understands his mission im- 
mediately. If the boy looks well and 
comes from a good family he is invited 
to have tea or sherbet. It being tea-time 



92 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

the young lady, not realizing a suitor is 
in the house, steps in in her every-day 
clothes and with her face uncovered and 
subject to good observation by the young 
candidate. If she does not come in the 
house when the suitor is there she will 
probably be sent for. If they mention the 
name of the young candidate and his pur- 
pose the chances are that she will stay 
away from her home, for the Persian girls 
are extremely bashful. 

While having his tea he will, of course, 
say something about stock and the various 
things that he is expected to buy. His 
business, however, being pretty well known 
he is told that they have nothing to sell 
him. So he will finally take a last look at 
the girl and depart for his home and rela- 
tives. If the girl has not pleased him he 
will try some one else, but if she has he 
makes a favorable report to his father. 

The father will then pick some of his 
best friends who are supposed to be diplo- 
matic, and send them to the girl's father 






H 
O 

< 

Q 

XII 



MARRIAGES « 93 

as alchies or special ambassadors, with the 
purpose of making marriage negotiations. 
These alchies call on the girl's father, and 
their mission, of course, being understood, 
they are invited for afternoon tea, or 
dinner, or to smoke. One of them will 
suddenly remark while smoking, "I sup- 
pose you want to know why we are here." 
The father of the girl, according to the 
custom, plays ignorant, and asks them to 
tell him their mission. The alchies state 
their purpose, and, to make the negotia- 
tions interesting they are most politely 
refused by the father. They are expected, 
of course, to insist, and when they do so 
they are told, "Well, her mother knows 
about it." That means another trip must 
be made by women alchies as the men 
alchies have no right to talk to his wife. 
The boy's mother will then send some 
of her friends to ask the girl's mother. 
The same thing will again happen, as 
the future mother-in-law will refuse her 
consent until her daughter has been inter- 



94 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

viewed by one of these women. If the girl 
really did not like the young candidate, 
there is nothing that would induce her 
then to marry him, but if she did, with a 
little coaxing her consent would be ob- 
tained and sooner or later a wedding would 
follow. On the other hand, if the boy and 
the girl admired each other, and their 
parents disagreed for some family rea- 
sons, they would elope and get married. 
Such cases have been known even in Persia, 
but the girl's family cannot stand this 
humiliation, so they usually accuse the 
boy's family of kidnaping their daughter 
or taking her by force. 

When the parties and their parents have 
agreed to a marriage, the question of dowry 
must be settled. The dowry is a certain 
sum of money or land stipulated by the 
girPs father, which she will receive from 
her husband in case of a divorce. Besides 
the dowry, just before the wedding the 
young lady's mother goes to the bazars 
and shops selecting fine cloth for her 



MARRIAGES 95 

daughter at the expense of her future 
father-in-law. 

The Wedding 

The Persian weddings are long and tire- 
some, especially to the bride and bride- 
groom. A day or so before the wedding 
the emissaries are sent by the parents of 
the young couple inviting their friends and 
neighbors to attend this affair. The emis- 
saries carry with them apples and candy, 
and, while they are presenting the invita- 
tions to the favored ones, they also give 
each an apple, saying, "This is your wed- 
ding and not ours; our boy is your boy," 
or "Our daughter is your daughter." 

After the invitations are sent, prepara- 
tion is made for the feasting. Several 
oxen are slaughtered to feed the guests 
and the poor of the village. For three or 
more days the boy's father furnishes two 
meals to everybody that comes into his 
house. He will sometimes even take 
strangers and passers-by into his home to 



96 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

eat and drink in celebration of the great- 
est event of the young groom's life. 

The first day is a preparation to receive 
guests and to exchange greetings. The 
young groom on this occasion is referred 
to as "King." He is kissed by his rela- 
tives and friends. In the home of the 
bride the wedding is looked upon in a dif- 
ferent attitude. Her parents are down- 
hearted. Her mother cries continually be- 
cause she is losing her daughter. Friends 
call and sympathize with her, assuring her 
that it is a blessing and that her daughter 
is doing her womanly duty. 

On the groom's housetop two musicians 
with drums and a flute play merrily every 
day. As soon as the drum is heard the 
dancers begin to come. Then suddenly the 
most expert one in the crowd pulls out his 
many-colored handkerchief and begins to 
lead. They dance in a circle, going from 
right to left. Men dancers are usually 
rather rough. They look right and left, 
thumping their feet on the housetop, and 



MARRIAGES 97 

the leader swings his handkerchief to and 
fro. To these dances everybody is ad- 
mitted. The best one, of course, takes the 
lead, then comes the next best, and so on. 
I used to dance, but being young and in- 
experienced I was always placed at the tail 
end. 

The wedding meal hours are announced 
from the housetop by the musicians. 
They have a certain tune for this part of 
the performance, just as the Army and 
Navy have a special bugle call by which 
the soldiers and sailors are summoned to 
their "chow." After the dinner, dancing 
and playing begin again. This time it is 
held in the house and sometimes continued 
until after midnight. At the night dance 
I never took part, as I was tired from 
dancing in the daytime. I usually slept on 
my mother's lap, or on the lap .of some one 
who was not dancing. 

Sometimes to make the entertainment 
more pleasant they have some special sing- 
ers and players. There is no written 



98 WHEN 1 WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 



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100 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

music in Persia, consequently all the 
musicians must memorize their songs and 
notes. The musical instruments are 
Kamenja (violin), Saz (mandolin), and 
Torr (guitar). Their music is very- 
melancholy, and as you see from the illus- 
tration, practically all is in minor keys. 

In our province there was a famous blind 
singer by the name of Ashag Mamet. He 
was employed at practically all important 
weddings, going from place to place on a 
donkey. In some ways he was the most 
remarkable man that I have ever seen. 
This Ashag (singer) could sing for three 
consecutive days without repeating a single 
song. As he sang he played his own in- 
strument, Torr (guitar). His most fa- 
mous song was "The Groom and His 
Beautiful Apple.' ' In this he compared 
the bride to a red apple on top of a tall 
apple-tree, and the groom to a boy who de- 
sired to eat the apple but was unable to 
reach it. He would sing this with such 



MARRIAGES 101 

feeling that sometimes tears would roll 
down his cheeks. 

The last day of the wedding is perhaps 
the most interesting of all, as the bride 
is brought to her father-in-law's home. 
If the bride does not live in the same town, 
some handsome young men are picked by 
the groom or his father and sent after her 
with a band of musicians. These men are 
armed to the teeth with guns, revolvers, 
and sabers. Upon reaching the bride's 
village, their band begins to play and they 
fire some blank cartridges. If the dis- 
tance is very great they usually remain 
over night as the guests of the town. 
Otherwise they take the bride back im- 
mediately on a horse or a Takhtoravan. 
About a mile from home they begin their 
music and firing again to let the towns- 
folk know that the bride is on her way. 
When the groom hears the distant drum 
he mounts a horse and dashes down the 
street to meet his bride. When within a 



102 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

few feet of her he gently throws her an 
apple and dashes back to his home, fol- 
lowed by the young men of the bride's 
party. They dash after him, and, if he is 
caught, they paddle him well. It is very 
seldom, however, that he is caught, as it is 
considered a great disgrace for a groom 
not to be able to run his horse faster than 
his opponents. 

When the bride has finally reached her 
father-in-law's home she will be taken and 
entertained by a friend of the groom's 
mother. It is considered a great honor to 
entertain the bride. The lady who is so 
lucky as to receive this honor is supposed 
to protect and guard her fair guest very 
carefully. During the evening the groom 
and his best men make strenuous efforts to 
see the bride, but they cannot, for she is too 
well guarded, so they wait until the next 
morning. 

After the bride has spent the night with 
her mother-in-law's friend she is then 
taken to the church, or sometimes to a 



MARRIAGES 103 

friend's home, where the marriage cere- 
mony is read. Then she is led, with the 
band of musicians, to her future home. 
Upon entering the gate, in order to have a 
fruitful future she is compelled to walk 
over a sheaf of wheat or vines. When she 
goes into her home and is comfortably 
seated, her presents are displayed. It is 
on this occasion that her artistic ability 
plays an important part. Everything that 
she has made, embroidered or woven in 
her girlhood is thrown on her trunk or on 
a piece of rope for people to look at. The 
onlookers, first saying, "Mashallah," con- 
gratulate her heartily, and the wedding 
festivities finally come to an end. 



VI 



PEKSIAET FASTS AND FESTIVALS 

The Persians have a great number of 
festivals and do a great deal of fasting 
also. The most important celebrations are 
held on the anniversaries of the birth and 
death of their saints and prophets. The 
Christians celebrate Christmas and Easter, 
and the Mohammedans observe principally 
Shaban and the great festival of Ramazan. 
The latter, as well as a part of the first is 
held in honor of Ali, the fourth Caliph. 

Christmas and Easter 

The Christians observe a Christmas fast 
by refraining from eating meat for twenty- 
five days. Easter is observed in the same 
way with the exception of a longer period 
of fasting, similar to the observance of 
Lent. 

104 



PERSIAN FASTS AND FESTIVALS 105 

My own family, though they enjoyed 
all the festivities, never fasted. Occa- 
sionally I would run out in the street on 
fasting days with a beef sandwich. The 
boys who were compelled by their parents 
to fast took a great dislike to me. Upon 
seeing me enjoying my meat sandwich they 
would hiss and call me ugly names. Some 
would say, ' ' Grod will kill you and send you 
to Gehenna (Hades) before the fasting 
days are over." 

At the end of each fast, cattle and sheep 
are slaughtered so that every one can have 
plenty of good meat to eat and to enjoy at 
the festivals. 

Christmas in the Province of Azerbajin 
falls in a cold and snowy season. There- 
fore it is celebrated on the housetops. On 
such occasions the boys of our village 
gathered in bunches to play marbles and 
Christmas eggs. One egg was hit on the 
end by another just as the boys pick eggs 
at Easter in this country. The one that 
broke had to be given to the boy that had 



106 WEEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

the hardest egg. Once we discovered an 
egg that no one could break. This we 
found to be a china egg. Some smart boy 
who had made a trip to the city was the 
owner of the envied property. The pres- 
ence of such an egg in our little village 
created a panic among the boys. We could 
never discover who had it because, when 
the owner had won about a hundred eggs 
he sold it to some one else with the idea, 
of course, of not giving himself away. 
Personally, I never was so fortunate as to 
possess it. 

To guard against the china one we 
tested each other's eggs by tapping them 
against our teeth. By this method we 
sometimes discovered a china egg and also 
came to some conclusion as to which egg 
would break first. 

There is no Santa Claus in Persia, and I 
do not believe the devout people would al- 
low any one to introduce this good fairy 
into their Christmas festivities. 

Easter comes in the spring when the land 



PERSIAN FASTS AND FESTIVALS 107 

is a vast carpet of wild flowers. The 
festival is celebrated in the home, the or- 
chards, and the hayfields. Joy and happi- 
ness reign supreme for a whole week. The 
people dress up in their best attire and pay 
visits. They greet each other by saying, 
"May your Easter be a blessing." Each 
day is given over to a different program. 
The first day of the festival is a visiting 
day, the second day is for running and ball- 
playing. The third and fourth days they 
match colored eggs and play games. The 
final day the fun reaches its climax, as all 
these various pleasures are enjoyed to- 
gether. They play, run, dance, and the 
boys have wrestling matches. The young 
people enjoy themselves to such an extent 
that, for a week after they are heartbroken 
because the festival is over. 

Shaban and Ramazan 

The most interesting, amusing, and yet 
most painful of all festivals in Persia are 
those of Shaban and Ramazan. I say pain- 



108 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

fill, because, as we shall see, great agony 
and suffering is caused when fasting and 
celebrating the latter of these two festivals. 

Shaban comes on the fifteenth day of the 
eighth month of Shaban, and it is to the 
Persians as the Fourth of July is to Ameri- 
cans. It is celebrated in honor of Imam 
Mehdah, the last descendant of Caliph Ali 
and of Ali's marriage anniversary to 
Fatima, the famous daughter of the 
Prophet Mohammed. Fatima, besides be- 
ing beautiful, was a descendant of one of 
the noblest tribes of Arabia, called 
Karoush. On account of her noble birth 
she had many suitors. Her father wanted 
her to marry Ali, a blood relative, but, not 
wanting to create any friction and ill feel- 
ing among her admirers, it is said that he 
decreed "no one, except he on whose house 
a shooting-star will fall, can have Fatima.' ' 
Ali, being the favorite of the Prophet, 
naturally was lucky enough to have his 
house hit by the star. 

On the evening of the Shaban festival 



PERSIAN FASTS AND FESTIVALS 109 

practically the whole population of Persia 
can be seen in the streets and on the house- 
tops watching the fireworks. No one is too 
poor to buy skyrockets on this occasion. 
Some people actually go without food to 
save money to take part in this event, and 
any one who is not participating in the 
evening's performances is considered to be 
a poor Mussulman and unbeloved of 
Allah. This festival, with the exception of 
those celebrated by the Christians, is the 
sanest of all Persian festivals. 

Two weeks after Shaban the great fast 
of Eamazan begins. It falls on the ninth 
month of the Persian year, which is lunar. 
Thus it runs through the different seasons 
and falls in winter, as well as in summer, 
and on a different date each year. 

It is observed in commemoration of the 
death of Ali and his two sons, Hassan and 
Hosein. The Persian boys who bear these 
names are particularly proud of them dur- 
ing this fast. The fasting begins with the 
sight of the new moon. I have seen people 



110 WEEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

•climbing tall trees and on the housetops 
looking for it. The first person who sees 
it considers himself quite fortunate. 
When it is cloudy the Government informs 
the population by firing a cannon or by 
special messenger, that the moon has risen. 
As soon as the appearance of the new moon 
is established, the people all over the 
country become at once more religious than 
they were before. The poor, the Jews, and 
the Christians, if they show a sober face 
during the fast are treated better than 
usual. 

To observe the fast, no one except in- 
fants, sick people, and the sons of the road, 
i. e., travelers, are supposed to eat, drink, 
swear, smoke, or enjoy any social pleasures 
from sunrise to sunset. In the cities those 
who fast are summoned by the firing of a 
cannon to fast and later to feast. As soon 
as the Muezzin call, or the firing of the 
cannon is heard by the people in the even- 
ing the daily meal begins. They rush from 
housetops and the streets or wherever they 



PERSIAN FASTS AND FESTIVALS 111 

happen to be, and they continue eating until 
the next morning, when they are again in- 
formed by a Muezzin call or gun-fire to 
stop eating. There are more deaths from 
over-eating during this month of fasting 
than from all other causes put together. 

When this fast falls in the summer sea- 
son when the days are long and hot, it be- 
comes unbearable. But, "What of it?" 
they say, "even if one should die from heat 
and thirst while fasting, what is that com- 
pared to everlasting life, or to the final 
reward with which one could obtain the 
password to heaven?" 

The Mohammedans continue this fast 
until the new moon is seen again. The last 
ten days of the fast of Eamazan are full 
of excitement. In the evenings I used to 
see companies of men, women, and boys 
in the streets of our village carrying 
banners, clubs, emblems and metallic 
bands. They cried, beating their heads 
and breasts with their fists, pulling their 
hair, and, like lunatics, shouted aloud the 



112 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

names of Ali, Hassan and Hosein, their 
martyred prophets. 

On the last three days of the fast all the 
shops and bazars are closed. The mosques 
all over Persia are draped with black, 
prayers are conducted and everybody is 
gloomy, as the saints are about to be exe- 
cuted by their enemies. 

The most agonizing of all fast days is 
the last day of Eamazan. It may be prop- 
erly termed the Mohammedan slashing 
day. In the morning all the Moham- 
medans, young and old, form processions. 
They march through the streets and grave- 
yards, shouting as usual the names of Ali, 
Hassan, and Hosein, in such a manner that 
the names can be heard at a great distance. 
At first the name of Ali is shouted three 
times, then they continue with all the 
famous names and repeat them success- 
ively, saying, "Hassan, Hosein ya Ali," 
until they are hoarse from shouting and 
can hardly whisper. 

In the morning each young man reports 



PERSIAN FASTS AND FESTIVALS 113 

to the village priest or to a barber who in- 
flicts with a razor a wound in his fore- 
head. The blood then streams on the 
white apron which he wears for the occa- 
sion to show the public how much blood 
he has shed. Then the young men go into 
the streets with swords and sabers in their 
hands and form a line. Suddenly the 
leader will shout, "Ya, Ali!" Im- 
mediately each follower begins inflicting 
deeper wounds on his scalp. In order to 
keep them from slashing themselves, 
friends and relatives hold sticks on the 
foreheads of the frenzied young men. 

The procession continues all day long. 
They go into the hills and into the grave- 
yards, and visit different villages, shout- 
ing the names of Ali and his comrades. 
Each village has its band. If the band of 
one village can show more blood than the 
others it is considered that the more pious 
men are in that village. 

As a boy, whenever I saw these bloody 
bands shouting, carrying their banners, 



114 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

and coming toward me, I ran and hid. I 
was dreadfully afraid of them. "When I 
got a little older I used to watch and pity 
them. On one such occasion I remember 
seeing a man fall on the ground from loss 
of blood. Not infrequently some bigoted 
Mohammedan would torture himself to 
death on this day, as it was considered a 
great blessing for a member of a family 
to 010 from wounds inflicted on the last 
day of Eamazan. 

In the cities the bands march from 
mosque to njosque and to the mayor's of- 
fice, demanding the release of prisoners 
that have been unjustly condemned. In 
order to quiet them the mayor always re- 
leases one or two prisoners, not taking into 
consideration their guilt. The festival 
finally ends with big religious meetings in 
the parks and large donations to the 
priests. 



VII 

PERSIAN HOUSES. THE MODE OF LIVING, 
EATING, AND DRESSING 

The Persians are divided into various 
classes and castes. The wealthy people 
have elegant houses, containing different 
apartments for women and for servants. 
Their homes are built of stone and marble, 
and decorated with various pleasing 
colors. 

The masses, however, have but one big 
room from thirty-five to fifty feet square. 
The ceiling is supported by two or four 
stout pillars with several beams running 
from one wall to the other. It is covered 
with timber, reeds, and weeds. All this is 
then covered with mud. The roof is plas- 
tered with the best kind of clay, mixed with 
straw to keep it from cracking and to keep 
the rain from soaking through. In slushy 

115 



116 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

weather the water is conducted by means 
of a spout into the yard or into big tanks, 
to be used for washing. 

There are no chimneys in the Persian 
houses. When the fire is kindled, smoke 
naturally fills the room, but finally, when 
the fire begins to burn well, this escapes 
through the skylights. From the effects 
of smoke, the ceilings in the Persian homes 
are quite dark. There are no windows, 
but by means of numerous skylights the 
Persian houses are well lighted and 
thoroughly ventilated. There is only one 
door. Khayyam says, "I came out of the 
same door where in I went." So must 
every one who enters a house in Iran do. 

In the one room, besides human beings, 
I have seen cats, dogs, chickens, horses, 
buffaloes, cows, heifers, goats, swallows, 
and sparrows. This is a home for every- 
thing and everybody. A large part of the 
floor is used by the family and the incom- 
ing guests for their shoes. Upon entering 
the house one must always remove these 



PERSIAN HOUSES 117 

and walk with bare or stockinged feet on 
the rugs. The room is divided into 
various sections, one section being used for 
sitting 'and sleeping. In another section 
is a wooden box full of flour. The top of 
this box is used for the bedclothes. At 
night they are taken down, and in the morn- 
ing hung on the frame again. 

In many of the Christian homes there 
is a tiny room which is used only for 
prayers. The head of the house, upon ris- 
ing in the morning, washes his face, combs 
his hair and beard, and enters into this 
little sanctuary for meditation. 

In addition to this, some well-to-do 
families also have a special apartment for 
receiving guests. This is richly furnished 
with Persian rugs and tapestry, and is 
heated with a stove. Upon entering this 
room, the guests leave their shoes in a 
vestibule. In sitting down, like true 
Orientals, they sit with their feet under 
them. Every now and then one may see 
a chair in one of these apartments for the 



118 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

use of European visitors. Persians them- 
selves prefer sitting on rugs or lying on 
cushions to using uncomfortable chairs. 
I confess that there was nothing so tire- 
some to me as sitting on a chair. In a 
few minutes I would drop from it to a 
cushion with a breath of satisfaction. 
The most important spot in the Persian 
home is the oven. It is built in the center 
of the room, the top of it being on a level 
with the floor. The oven is made of clay, 
in cylindrical form, from three and a half 
to four feet deep, and about two and a half 
feet in diameter. Wood being scarce, the 
principal fuel used is dried manure. The 
poor people go in the pasture during the 
summer and gather wood and manure to 
be used for heating and cooking. 

The Kurse 

In the cold winter days the people place 
ia Jcurse (square table) over the oven and 
cover this with heavy blankets which hang 
down to the floor, keeping the heat within. 



PERSIAN HOUSES 119 

Then they put their feet under the edges 
of the blankets, or even into the oven to 
keep them warm. Also, when the nights 
are cold they sleep here with a great deal 
of comfort. The head man of the house 
takes the most desirable and comfortable 
place. This is the spot farthest from the 
door and the draught. 

The top of the kurse is used for various 
purposes. The boys play marbles on it 
while the girls knit. The head of the 
family enjoys his water-pipe, which is 
smoked in turn by the whole family except 
the children. 

The Housetops 

The housetops being flat and the houses 
built close together, one can walk from one 
end to the other end of the village just 
as though on the ground. The housetops 
are very popular with the boys. 

They sing and dance on them. In the 
summer, aided by the bright Oriental 
moonlight, all the villagers eat supper, pay 



120 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

their friendly calls, and sleep there on ac- 
count of the great heat. 

The boys frequently do a little eaves- 
dropping from the housetops. Stealing 
softly upon the roof, they go close to the 
skylight and listen to the conversation of 
the family beneath. 

Cooking and Eating 

The Persians give more time to cook- 
ing and eating than to anything else. The 
need of servants is far greater in Persia 
than in many countries, as they refuse to 
do more than one thing. For instance a 
cook will do only cooking and nothing else. 
A servant that waits on the* table will re- 
fuse to answer the call at the door or do 
any dish-washing. A jelouder (groom) 
will not attend to his master's horses and 
stables. Happily, however, the servants' 
wages are not high. Most of the servants 
we had came from Kurdestan. For two 
suits of clothes, a place to sleep, and about 
two dollars a month for board they were 




B 

o 






o 



PERSIAN HOUSES 121 

perfectly satisfied to remain indefinitely in 
our family. 

Bread-Baking 

In Persia the bread is made differently 
from what it is in this country. First the 
dough is mixed and made into small balls. 
Each ball is put on a flat board and rolled 
until it is about two feet long, about a foot 
wide, and almost as thin as paper. It is 
then lifted with a utensil made for the pur- 
pose and slapped against the side of the 
oven, which is quite hot. Within a few 
minutes the dough is baked. The baking is 
done according to the size of the family. 
In summer on account of the great heat, 
baking is done only occasionally. Some 
families on a cool day bake* enough bread 
to last them several weeks. To keep the 
loaves from getting moldy the bread is 
dried and stored away. Before the meal- 
time they take out a few loaves and 
sprinkle them with water to make them 
soft. 



122 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

The cooking is done either in the house 
or in a place specially prepared for such 
purpose's. Persian kitchens are often sev- 
eral yards from the main living-room. 
The food is brought in on trays. High 
government officials, for fear of being 
poisoned, frequently compel their servants 
to bring the trays, breaking the seal in 
front of them, and taste a portion of the 
food before it is given to the master. 

Not being afraid of being poisoned, I 
used to enjoy my meals wherever I went, 
and like all boys, I thought more of eat- 
ing than I did of studying. In the early 
morning I would have bread and some fine 
buffalo butter or cream with honey or 
syrup. As soon as I finished I would run 
to my grandmother Monna, where I would 
eat bread or cheese and drink some hot 
milk or tea, If not going to school, I 
always made a trip to our near-by vine- 
yard V>r orchard to eat grapes or fruit that 
I found ripe. After playing, or picking 
toita (berries) for a few hours I returned 



PERSIAN HOUSES 123 

home to lunch. This noon meal usually 
consisted of meat, potatoes, 1 rice, and 
plenty of sherbet, a Persian sweet drink. 
Later I would stroll in the orchard, getting 
peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, grapes, 
or anything that appeared good to eat. 
About four o 'clock, we, or some of my rela- 
tives, always had tea. Sometimes it was 
served in the orchard in the shade of a big 
plum-tree, or in a tall tower which we had 
in our vineyard. I usually went wherever 
I found it convenient, never taking into 
consideration whether I was wanted or not. 
At these afternoon teas I frequently drank 
five or six cups. We drank tea all the year 
round, and in the winter usually ate raisins 
and nuts with it. 

On account of the late setting of the sun, 
dinner was served very late in the evening. 
Ordinarily we had meat, potatoes, rice, 
cabbage, and sometimes kidney beans. We 
rarely had coffee, and many never used 
any butter with their meals. 

iln Persia they raise no sweet potatoes. 



124 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

There were no pies, ice-cream, cake or 
any other dessert to be eaten after the 
meal. The place of these good things was 
taken by the water-pipe, in the smoking of 
which I was not permitted to participate. 
After dining, I usually fell asleep and had 
to be awakened and sent to bed. The Per- 
sians use no knives and forks. For this 
reason when they have soups, they put 
bread in it to make it thick like hash, then 
by dipping a portion of thin bread, held by 
the thumb and first two fingers of the right 
hand, they lift small quantities and eat it 
without soiling their fingers. 

In a Persian family meal there are very 
few dishes used. One dish sometimes 
answers the purpose. When the food is 
thus served, each one eats from his own 
side of the dish, and it would be a sign 
of ill-breeding to try to eat from some one 
else's share. 

Sometimes the following superstition is 
not neglected after a meal by one of the 
young members of the family. They say 



PERSIAN HOUSES 125 

that if you lick the dish your sweetheart 
will be beautiful. As soon as I heard and 
understood the meaning of this, I began 
putting it into practice. But very quickly 
I was discouraged by my mother, who gave 
me one of her usual sane lectures on the 
subject of "misleading ideas.' ' 

The Mode of Dressing 

The fashions in Persia do not change 
as they do in Europe, or in the countries 
of the western hemisphere. The girls and 
boys of to-day, as well as all the men and 
women, wear the same style of dress as was 
worn by their grandparents. 

On the street or in the mosque there is 
no way of distinguishing the wife or 
daughter of a banker or prince from that 
of a shoemaker. When they go out, the 
women wear thick veils of almost any 
color and material. This hides the whole 
form and face, but the two black, almond- 
shaped eyes. It is a picturesque sight to 
see these tall figures promenading the 



126 WBEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

street, seeing everything, and showing 
nothing but their sparkling Persian eyes, 
which seem to enjoy the curiosity they ex- 
cite. 

The following is supposed to be the 
origin of the custom of wearing a veil. 
The Prophet Mohammed, while traveling 
with his beautiful young wife in Arabia, 
came to a large, shady, fig-tree, with its 
branches and green leaves hanging over a 
waterfall. The air being cool and restful 
there, he and his wife sat down to refresh 
themselves. Suddenly there came two 
priests, who, seeing such a beautiful 
woman, turned to look at her. As she was 
extremely handsome, the wicked priests 
continued their rudeness by turning from 
time to time and gazing as they went along 
at the moon-faced beauty sitting beside 
Mohammed. 

This affair grieved and irritated the 
Prophet beyond his apostolic endurance. 
In order to protect womankind from the 



PERSIAN HOUSES 127 

eyes of men, and to improve the moral con- 
ditions existing at that time, he advised 
that all female believers, when out of doors 
or worshiping in mosques, should cover 
themselves with veils. 

As soon as the women enter their homes, 
they remove their veils, and show their 
beautiful and costly clothes. 

They wear trousers of beautiful velvet, 
which cover the lower part of the body 
down to the heels. The blouse is a gar- 
ment made of silk and fastened in front 
by means of a number of loops and small 
buttons of silk, gold or silver. Around 
the waist is an embroidered girdle of silk, 
decorated in front with a plate of gold or 
silver and precious stones. They wear 
leather slippers, with soles of ivory or 
some hard wood. Frequently the women 
paint their toe-nails and the bottoms of 
their feet with henna, and, as they seldom 
wear stockings, this is quite noticeable as 
they walk. 



128 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

The winter costume is similar to that of 
the summer with the addition of a short 
upper garment and silk shawls. 

The women wear no hats. They have 
beautiful long black hair, which they ar- 
range in tresses adorned with pearls and 
clusters of precious stones, or ornaments 
of gold and silver. While out of doors 
they cover the head with silk shawls, 
bandeaux, diadems, and caps usually made 
by themselves. These are very costly, and 
vary in form and taste according to the 
wealth and circumstances of the wearer. 

How the Men Dress 

The costumes for men consist of a pair 
of wide trousers, a shirt, a kemir, or girdle, 
erhhalig or vest, hurde or jacket, and 
gaima, caba, and abioo are different shapes 
of overcoats. The hat is called by the 
natives, bork or koloi. They wear several 
different varieties of shoes. The long 
trousers, which almost reach to the ankles, 
are made of cloth, silk or cotton, they have 



PERSIAN HOUSES 129 

no pockets, and are tied with a cord at 
the waist. 

The shirt worn by the Persians is short, 
and without a collar. It comes over the 
trousers just below the hips, and is fast- 
ened by means of two buttons on the left 
shoulder. 

The erkhalig, or vest, fits tightly over 
the shirt. The choice of color and material 
is according to the fancy of the wearer. 
I have worn, red, white, black-and-white, 
brown, and yellow erkhaligs. This gar- 
ment has two pockets on each side, and a 
small watch-pocket. The caba is a long 
robe reaching to the ankles, and fitting 
closely about the hips. 

The gaima, which is worn by the wealthy 
people, looks somewhat like a clergyman's 
coat in this country. It is the most stylish 
of all men's wearing apparel. The Per- 
sian overcoat is called abioo. It is made 
of heavy cloth or wool for winter. It folds 
over the breast and buttons on the side. 
This garment is worn over the caba, and 



130 WEEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

on account of its clumsiness is very rarely 
used by the young men. 

A kurde is a short jacket made by the 
Kurds of wool, attractively ornamented 
with threads of gold and silver. Practic- 
ally every boy of my acquaintance wore 
one of these jackets, which is stiff like a 
board and fits tightly to the body. 

The hats are made of short, curly black 
lamb's wool. They are about four inches 
high and are stiff. The boys frequently 
wear a tall Turkish fez, with a long silk 
tassel. Turbans of all colors except white 
and green are worn by the Persian men. 
To the Mohammedans the white signifies 
purity, and the green immortality. On ac- 
count of the religious importance attached 
to these colors, they are exclusively used by 
various religious heads, the clergy, and by 
the theological students. In fact, it is not 
safe for any one to be seen with such 
turbans, who is not a member of one of 
the above classes. 

The most prominent and important 



PERSIAN HOUSES 131 

article of apparel is the kemir or girdle, 
which is twisted in a peculiar fashion over 
the coba or the erkhalig. Some of the 
girdles are several yards long, and the 
young man that has the longest kemir is 
looked upon by everybody as a dude. The 
girdle is used by them to show their figures, 
and also to hold the khanjar or dagger. 
This is about a foot and a half long, with 
a sharp point at the end. The guard is 
securely fastened with a cord to the girdle 
on the left side. 

The khanjar s are worn as an ornament, 
and some of them are highly polished and 
enriched with ivory and with precious 
stones. 

For shoes the Persians have three kinds 
of slippers. The poor wear sandals. A 
very good grade of slippers comes from 
Mecca. They are white, made of cloth, and 
are soft and comfortable to wear. Be- 
ing quite expensive, they are worn only by 
the rich and the Hadji, who usually brings 
a few pairs with him when coming back 



332 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

from his pilgrimage. The socks used are 
worsted or cotton. In the summer very 
few boys wear either shoes or socks, as 
they prefer going barefooted. The foot- 
wear comes in all colors. I have worn 
shoes of black, green, red, and yellow 
leather in Persia, but when I saw the 
American shoes I lost my taste for my own 
country slippers and was never satisfied 
until I had a pair of American boots. 



VIII 

PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES. TRADES 
AND OCCUPATIONS OF THE INHABITANTS 

The Villages 

From a distance a Persian village looks 
like a single house. With the exception of 
high, imposing mosque minarets and tall 
poplar-trees usually surrounding the vil- 
lages, a traveler can see nothing but a low, 
flat roof. The villages are very primitive. 
There are no street lights, they have 
neither gas nor electricity. If one enters 
a village at night he must feel his way 
with a staff to keep from falling into pits 
and little pools. There are no pavements. 
The streets are very muddy in winter and 
extremely dusty in summer. Not having 
any sidewalks, human beings must not only 
walk on the same ground with the domestic 

133 



134 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

animals, but they must give way to the 
herds of cattle. 

The Persian villages are divided into 
wards, each of which has a name, but there 
are no names given to streets, and the 
houses are not numbered. To call on a 
stranger, one must first find out the ward 
in which he lives, then, in order to find his 
home, every house in the ward must be 
canvassed. 

There are no mail deliveries in Persia 
except in the large cities. The village mail 
is usually sent to the nearest city by a 
special messenger, who brings back any 
mail for the village and distributes it 
among the inhabitants. Many being un- 
educated, the community employs a Mirza 
to read and to write their letters. The 
writing of Persian letters, besides taking 
much time, requires one thoroughly versed 
in etiquette, ceremonies, and with more 
than the usual education. This gives em- 
ployment to a large number of scribes that 
are usually known as Mirza. The village 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 135 

Mirza is from an excellent family and is 
known for his integrity and honesty and 
force of character. The community for 
which he renders this service has an im- 
plicit faith in him. He is liberally paid 
and is well informed as to the affairs of the 
village. 

The Chronometers, or the Methods Em- 
ployed for Measuring Time 

There are no time-pieces in Persian vil- 
lages. They tell time by the position of 
the sun and by their shadows. When the 
weather is cloudy ,Vime is reckoned accord- 
ing to the way they feel. The village has 
no curfew bell, nor any specified time for 
boys to retire. Men, women, and children 
turn in for their night's rest when they are 
tired and sleepy or when they run out of 
conversation and town gossip. 

Practically every family in the village 
has a rooster to wake them up in the morn- 
ing. The first crowing is supposed to be 
at midnight; a second crowing at three 



136 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

o 'clock, and the third one about five. From 
that time on the rooster will continue crow- 
ing until it is nearly daylight. The family 
considers that then every one should be up 
and doing his daily work. 

Farming and Cultivation of the Ground 

All land in Persia, strictly speaking, be- 
longs to the Crown. It is leased to the 
favorites and friends of the Shah for 
ninety-nine years or for an indefinite 
period, and it descends to the posterity of 
the lessee. However, when the land is pur- 
chased the owners have an absolute claim 
on it and it can not be taken legally from 
their descendants. 

The individuals who thus become holders 
of large tracts of land divide it into small 
shares and let farmers cultivate it on terms 
agreeable to both parties. The usual 
terms are that the landlord should re- 
ceive one-half of the crops, and the other 
half be kept by his tenant for his labor and 
to defray expenses, such as buying plows, 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 137 

oxen, buffaloes, and paying the sowers and 
reapers. The land is plowed by buf- 
faloes and oxen. The implement for 
plowing is made of wood with a sharp 
steel point. They have two sizes of 
plows: the small plow is managed by 
one man and two buffaloes, the larger 
plow by five men or four pairs of buf- 
faloes. One of the men holds the big 
plow in the ground by means of the han- 
dle, and each of the others rides on the yoke 
of two buffaloes. These laborers are ex- 
tremely fond of singing, and while plow- 
ing can be heard for some distance chant- 
ing their buffalo songs. 

The Persian agrarians use no "gee" or 
"haw." "When they want their buffaloes 
to go to the right they whip them on that 
side with a flexible switch, and on the left 
side to make them go to the left. 

It is impossible to raise any crops with- 
out the land being freely and frequently 
irrigated. The Persian summers are ex- 
tremely hot. From the effects of the heat I 



138 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

have seen the ground cracked and the boys' 
feet blistered from stepping on stones and 
hot sand. The rains fall usually in the 
spring and the latter part of autumn. On 
such occasions I have heard thunder and 
hail and seen great storms which reminded 
me of the time of Noah. The appearance 
of a rainbow in the sky was very welcome 
at these times. 

On account of requiring dry weather for 
gathering the {jrops, it is indeed fortunate 
that the rains do not fall in the summer as 
they do in many other countries. All har- 
vesting, reaping, and binding is done by the 
weary hands of the peasants. They cut the 
wheat with the sickle, bind it by hand, 
and flail it in the open fields to separate the 
chaff from the wheat. This method of har- 
vesting is so primitive that it takes months 
from the time they reap the wheat to the 
time it is stored away, and should there 
be heavy rains during this season the crops 
sprout and become unfit for use. 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 139 

The Persian Products 

The products raised in Persia are very 
numerous. Dates, figs, pomegranates, 
peaches, apples, pears, plums, cherries, 
berries, apricots, grapes, and all kinds of 
nuts grow in abundance. The farmers also 
raise watermelons, muskmelons, cucum- 
bers, wheat, barley, millet, and tobacco. 
For hay they have plenty of clover and al- 
falfa. 

In the grocery stores one can buy honey, 
molasses, cheese, butter, oil, clabber, peas, 
rice, and fruits, but no canned goods. 

The Village Trades 

Each village has its own storekeeper, 
blacksmith, miller, carpenter, bricklayer, 
barber, and a dyer, of whom we will speak 
in the chapter on Persian rugs. These are 
hereditary trades. The father trains the 
son to carry on the work planned for him 
by his parents and his parents' parents. 
The storekeeper is one of the busiest men 



140 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

in the village. His stock comprises gro- 
ceries, candy, drugs, gum, clothing, and in 
fact everything except meat, which must al- 
ways be obtained fresh. Not having any 
ice establishments the meat is bought at 
the Gasapkhana where they slaughter the 
cattle. The village merchant opens his es- 
tablishment at his own pleasure and closes 
it whenever he feels like it. Very fre- 
quently he is alone in his shop. If he is 
called to prayer by the Muezzin from the 
tower of the village mosque, he stops his 
business and, facing toward Mecca, of- 
fers his prayers. A good Mohammedan 
will never allow his customers to interrupt 
his devotions. On the other hand, if the 
storekeeper is a hypocrite, he stops his 
prayer, waits on the customer, and then 
goes on with his supplication. There are 
good and bad Mohammedans just as there 
are such of other religions. An educated 
Mohammedan is a very honest man and he 
will never take advantage of a friend or of 
a customer, but a Mohammedan who is 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 141 

bigoted and miserly thinks that his prayers 
wash away all his sins and he invariably 
takes advantage of his customers. I have 
seen big disputes and even fist fights just 
after a prayer in these stores, because the 
customer .thought he had been cheated in 
the measurement or weight of an article. 
A dishonest shopkeeper has no respect for 
anybody, not even his own relatives. They 
urge passers-by and onlookers to come in 
and buy. Not infrequently I have seen a 
merchant step up and, grasping a pros- 
pective purchaser by his garments, talk him 
into buying. When, however, his efforts 
failed he would spit on the customer. 

The village blacksmith enjoys a far bet- 
ter reputation than the merchant, for he 
earns his living by hard labor. He rises 
early in the morning, makes his fire in a big 
open fireplace, and goes to work at his an- 
vil. He has very few implements, a blow- 
pipe, a big hammer, and a pair of tongs 
to hold the hot iron. The blacksmith 
makes the village plows, picks, and 



142 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

shovels, and repairs everything of this 
character. 

The village miller is viewed in the same 
light as the village merchant; he is very- 
much mistrusted. The families go to the 
mill in turn to have their wheat ground. 
For fear of having it stolen they remain 
all the time in the mill until the flour is 
finished and packed to be taken home. The 
miller receives from his customers a certain 
measure of grain for each bushel of wheat 
he grinds. The mill is run by water and 
usually is located near the source of a 
stream or a waterfall. The inhabitants 
who live in the mountains and in desert 
places where there is no such accommoda- 
tion, generally use a hand-mill. 

The carpenter and the village barber are 
the contractors. The carpenter makes an 
agreement with the inhabitants to make 
and to repair every plow, wagon, door 
and key in the homes. This trade is 
looked upon with a great deal of respect, 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 143 

and to become an expert carpenter in Per- 
sia is indeed an art. 

The trade of bricklaying is also con- 
sidered to be a favorable occupation to fol- 
low. 

To learn the trades of carpenter and 
bricklayer an apprentice must serve his 
master for at least three years and he must 
pay in the first year from $25 to $50 to 
his instructor. The pupil does not work at 
his trade for more than two or three hours 
a day. His work is chiefly in his master's 
garden, trimming hedges, spading the 
ground, and planting seed. He works 
there like a servant and attends faith- 
fully to his master's pipe and hasheesh. 
It is the same with tailors, perfumers, 
druggists, and even bankers in the cities. 

The barbers in Persia are considered by 
the boys as a necessary evil. This feeling 
is especially keen when one is being 
trimmed and shaved. The men and boys 
have their heads shaved except for a tuft 



144 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

of hair on the top and behind each ear. 
The older men wear beards and the young 
men all have moustaches ; in fact if a man 
appears without a moustache he is called 
a woman. 

The village barber makes a contract with 
people to go once a week to shave them. 
He wears a skin belt or girdle in which he 
carries razors, strops, knives, scissors, a 
comb, and a small tin cup. The barber 
shaves his customers wherever he finds 
them. I have seen a dozen or more men on 
a sunny winter day standing beside a wall 
whittling and waiting patiently to be 
shaved. In the summer the barber's job 
is a very difficult one as he has to hunt for 
his customers all over the village and the 
surrounding country. To soften the hair 
for shaving the village barber does not use 
soap but simply water. I used to dread 
his coming as much as I did the coming of 
a thunder-storm. He would pour a little 
cold water (in winter he used warm water) 
over my head and rub it with both hands 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 145 

just as hard as he could until the scalp 
would get red and numb. When the hair 
was soft he would take a razor or a sharp 
knife and commence. To keep me quiet, 
in the course of the operation he used to 
frequently give me lumps of sugar and 
talk of my bravery. But, even with all 
his kindness and complimentary remarks 
I avoided him and his razor whenever I 
could. 

There are no banks in a Persian village. 
Each man is his own banker. He hides 
his money in a safe place until he has ac- 
cumulated one or two hundred dollars, 
which is then invested in land. The vil- 
lagers are extremely frugal, nearly every 
man owns a little vineyard or orchard, and 
I shall be safe in saying that 99 per cent 
own their homes. 

The Social Life 

The Persian language is very musical 
and very rich in idioms, and in vowel 
sounds. Persians believe that their Ian- 



146 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

guage excels every other language in the 
world. Mohammed himself was so 
charmed with it that once he is supposed 
to have said he would ask that their lan- 
guage might be the language of Paradise. 
Be that as it may, it is quite certain that 
as the Persians are called "the French of 
the East," so is their language considered 
by English and American philologists to 
merit the same comparison. 

With such a delightful language as a 
base the Persians can make themselves 
very entertaining to their guests. As a 
whole, they are very social and polite, and 
unusually friendly to strangers. To make 
their friends and callers feel at home they 
say to them, "You have come on my eye," 
or, "The eye of my home is yours. Your 
servants, Ali and Mustafah, my dear sons, 
are dust under your feet, etc., etc." They 
express themselves in a dozen different 
ways to please their visitors. 

When a man visits a good friend it is 
really hard for them to part. Every time 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 147 

the guest makes an effort to go home his 
friend will urge him to stay another day. 
They never let a guest leave without ac- 
companying him part of the way home. 
At the parting point the friends kiss each 
•other, and the guest will implore his host 
to go all the way and visit him for a while. 

A Persian, before accepting an invita- 
tion, must be asked several times. When 
they invite a friend to dinner they beg 
him by saying, "Man uloom (I die), gar- 
banen uloom (I will be your sacrifice), 
Inshallah (in the name of Allah) you will 
favor me with your presence/ ' If the 
friend still refuses they grasp him by the 
collar and take him to the dinner. The 
reason why a Persian will insist on his 
friend favoring him with his presence at 
dinner or any other function is because 
Persians, as a class, abhor being termed 
parasites or spongers. 

The men never speak of their domestic 
affairs. No matter how much trouble a 
man has in his home, an outsider will never 



148 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

know of it. At gatherings the subjects 
they best like to discuss are politics, re- 
ligion, poetry, and the Persian heroes, such 
as Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and numerous 
others. The Persians are very proud of 
their country, history, and literature. 

As true believers they scoff at all re- 
ligions but their own. Occasionally, how- 
ever, one finds a broad-minded Mohamme- 
dan who does not believe that Mohammed 
and the rest of the Imams were the 
prophets of Allah. Such a person, to save 
himself endless trouble, politely refrains 
from participating in religious discussions. 

In the conversations that I used to hear 
in front of the mosques the subject of 
jahad, or a Holy War, was not neglected. 
At times a bigoted Mohammedan would re- 
fer to the Christians as kopak (dogs) and 
another would sigh for a Holy War to 
exterminate the kopak giviours which 
means "unclean dogs." Indeed very few 
of these Mohammedans look upon a Chris- 
tian as a desirable being, and the Chris- 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 149 

tians, on the other hand, have the same 
feeling toward the Mohammedans. In 
fact, to Christians, whether in Persia, 
Turkey, India, Syria or Armenia, a Mo- 
hammedan government, and the prophet 
himself, are the greaest curse God ever 
placed on mankind, and, from their past 
sufferings and massacres, they have a right 
to such a view. 

In a Persian City 

When I was eight years old my father 
took me, for the first time, to Urumiah, a 
city of about thirty-five to forty thousand 
inhabitants. The most amusing incident 
of this trip was my getting lost among the 
•camels. Even though I had lived close to 
a caravan route I had never seen a camel 
up to this time. I was particularly anxious 
to see a real camel, as I had heard a very 
interesting story as to "who made the 
camel.' ' I was told that once upon a time 
Moses asked Grod to allow him to create 
something that would be of great help 



150 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

to him. When Moses obtained the desired 
permission he created the camel to carry 
his load while he was traveling in the wil- 
derness. Moses, however, in creating this 
animal forgot to provide food for it. As 
soon as the camel got hungry it ran after 
Moses to eat him. "When Moses saw that 
he was almost caught he prayed for help 
and God immediately created weeds for the 
camel to feed upon. 

When my father and I reached the city 
we entered through a gate. Its streets 
were arched and are very narrow. As we 
were walking in the hat district I heard the 
tinkling of bells, which was an indication, 
as my father informed me, that a caravan 
was approaching. In a short while I saw 
the head of the caravan. Father said, 
' ' The camels are coming ! " I was viewing 
the camels as they passed by when suddenly 
the caravan stopped. I, also, stopped, to 
gaze at what " Moses had created." At 
this moment my father went ahead and left 
me standing alone. I soon realized that 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 151 

I was lost and began shouting for my fa- 
ther. My cries attracted the attention of 
the shopkeepers, and, in a short time, there 
was a little crowd looking curiously at me 
and asking if I had been hurt by any of 
the camels. Just at that time my father, 
who was hunting everywhere for me, saw 
the crowd and came to find out whether I 
was the one that was attracting the atten- 
tion. He found me standing beside a big 
camel, looking at it with wondering eyes, 
full of tears. In order to keep me from 
getting lost again he took me by my little 
hand and never let go of it until I was 
safely tucked away. 

In approaching a Persian city the first 
sight that will attract the traveler are the 
high city walls, surrounded with big 
ditches, and the numerous beggars and 
cripples of all descriptions loafing about 
the city gates, asking for alms. Begging 
has become a science with many of these 
men. They can tell at a glance whether 
the passers-by are Christians, Jews or Mo- 



152 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

hammedans. To Mohammedans they im- 
plore by the name of the Prophet to give 
them something; to Christians they say, 
"For Christ's sake, help us," and to Jews 
they mention the name of Moses and Abra- 
ham when they ask for assistance. If the 
beggars are refused, they turn on the pas- 
sers-by and curse them, saying, "May Al- 
lah take your only son," "May Allah burn 
your home, " or " May your father burn in 
Gehenna." Not infrequently the cripples 
shake their staves in the face of the stran- 
gers who do not help them. 

As a traveler passes through the gate 
of the city 'the things that will strike his 
eye are the graveyards and the many poor, 
lean dogs running from place to place with 
a bone between their jaws, occasionally 
stopping long enough to take a few licks, 
then hiding it in the ground for a future 
meal. The graveyards are scattered all 
over the city and by the roadside. The 
idea of having them in such places is so 
that those who pass may offer their 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 153 

prayers for the departed souls. The ceme- 
teries are the gloomiest quarters that I 
have ever seen in a city. The tombs are 
covered with weeds and grass, and, occa- 
sionally, a wild rose will be seen blooming 
over "some one's lovely head," but this 
is eventually eaten by the hungry beasts 
of burden. The boys, not having any 
special place provided by the city, fre- 
quently use graveyards for their play- 
grounds. 

In short, the graves are trampled upon 
by everything and by everybody. One can 
see homeless dogs jumping from tomb to 
tomb, and goats, sheep, donkeys, and asses 
eating the weeds and grass. 

Perhaps it was of such a scene that 
Omar, the tentmaker, was thinking when 
he wrote : 

"They say the Lion and the Lizard keep 
The Courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank 

deep ; 
And Bahrain, that great Hunter, the wild ass 
Stamps over his head, but can not break his 
sleep." 



154 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

Let us now pass to the shopping dis- 
trict, which is indeed, with the exception of 
Teheran, unlike anything that one sees in 
Europe or in the American cities. The 
bazars are grouped together according to 
the commodities they sell. In two or 
three blocks there is nothing to be seen but 
shoes and shoe-stores. Another long row 
of shops is occupied exclusively by the 
hatters. The tailors and bankers have 
their own separate quarters. The Gasa- 
pkhana (slaughtering place) is only for 
killing animals and for selling meat. Me- 
donkhana is a great public square used as 
a market for such products as wheat, 
barley, oats, and raisins. This place is 
adorned with fountains and is paved with 
stone. 

The caravansary takes the place of the 
hotel and stables. The farmers who come 
to the city to sell their stock put up, with 
their cattle, at these great caravansaries. 

Tophhana is the armory where all the 
guns and cannons are stored. It occupies 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 155 

a large area and is used as a drilling-place 
for the soldiery. 

Every storekeeper, with few exceptions, 
makes his own goods. In the lumber ba- 
zars men will be seen holding a saw by 
its two handles and sawing the wood into 
boards. Next to them will be carpenters 
who take the boards and make them into 
doors and windows. Hatters make their 
own hats, candy men their own candy. 
Shoemakers, saddlers, tailors, bakers, 
chandlers, tinners, braziers, silversmiths, 
and blacksmiths are busy making and sell- 
ing their own articles. There is thus no 
competition between labor and capital as 
the shopkeeper is both laborer and capi- 
talist. 

The merchants have no paid clerks. 
Their helpers are mere boys who are put 
there by their parents to learn the trade 
so that in time they can have establish- 
ments of their own. Each shopkeeper has 
his own price. Sometimes, however, the 
highly skilled artisans form a union and 



156 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

agree to sell their articles for a certain 
amount. Generally speaking, there are no 
stabilized prices. Each merchant tries to 
get all he can for his handiwork, and if he 
receives the price he first asked, he will be 
sorry that he did not ask for more. 

"Jewing" and bargaining are very com- 
mon. An ordinary merchant will usually 
ask a hundred per cent more than the real 
worth of his goods, so that after repeated 
bargaining he will not incur any losses. 
A great deal of Souda (business) is done 
in the following manner: The customer 
will approach the dealer as to the price of 
an article. The merchant will say, "I will 
give it to you for five tomans (dollars) and 
'Allah ackchin Miftada," meaning, "By 
Allah, the article is free." The customer 
will then say, "Man uloon (I die). What 
is the real price?" "By Allah," will re- 
ply the dealer, "I can not give it to you for 
any less." " Atam-Babani," (My father 
and my grandfather) the customer will 
softly say, "can you not be a little reason- 



PERSIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES 157 

able? Your price is too high." "Gor- 
bonan uloom" (I am your sacrifice) the 
dealer will say; "what will you give me 
for it?" "Two dollars," the customer 
will reply, "and that is more than it is 
worth." "Well," the merchant will 
shout, "do you think I found it? Just 
feel it, feel it, see how fine it is. This is 
my own make. Now what will you give 
me for it?" "Khir, khir," (No, no) the 
customer will answer, "I can not do souda 
(business) with you, I must see some other 
docunder (merchant) . ' ' He will then drop 
the goods and go his way. Before he has 
gone many steps the shopkeeper will shout, 
"Bora gal, bora gal," (come here, come 
here), at the same time beckoning to him, 
"I will give it to you for three tomans, 
wa's Salam (that is all)." The customer 
will then return and, after dickering for 
a few more minutes, will offer him his 
price and finally purchase the article, 
thinking that he has obtained it at a bar- 
gain. When the souda is over, if a sale 



158 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

has been made, the customer -and merchant 
become good friends until their next busi- 
ness meeting. On the other hand, if the 
customer does not buy anything the mer- 
chant will take his shoe or a stick and say- 
ing, "Away with you, you kopak (dog), or 
I will send you to Gehenna, " drives him 
•out of the shop. 

I frequently used to stop in front of the 
bazars and watch the shopkeepers barter- 
ing with their customers. If one knows 
their language there is nothing more amus- 
ing than to witness a sale, especially that 
of a donkey or a mule, by a dealer of the 
lower class. 



ix • 

PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 

In Persia there are no ready-made toys 
for the girls to play with. They are, there- 
fore, compelled to make their own rag ba- 
bies. At a very early age little girls col- 
lect various colors and shades of cloth 
from which they make dolls. They also 
take old stockings and unravel them and 
save the yarn, out of which they make 
balls to be used when they are playing on 
the housetops in the fall of the year. In 
playing the game the girls strike the ball 
to the ground with the palm of the hand 
and then make a quick turn. As it 
bounces it is given another blow so that 
the player can make another turn. This 
is kept up until the ball strikes a stone or 
a depression and gets beyond the control 
of the player, or else the girl, on account 

159 



160 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

of making so many successive turns, falls 
from dizziness. I have witnessed from 
180 to 200 turns being made without catch- 
ing the ball or letting it fall. These balls 
are often beautifully ornamented with de- 
signs, tiny images of human beings, palm- 
leaves land birds. The boys also play the 
game, but they are not so artistic as the 
girls, and neither do they have the pa- 
tience to make the balls. So frequently a 
girl will present to a boy, either through 
his sister, her chum, or some confidential 
friend who will keep her secret, a beau- 
tiful ball which she has thus made out of 
yarn and ornamented. In this way the 
Persian girls have their first lesson in love, 
sewing, embroidery, and rug-making. 

As soon as a girl reaches the age of un- 
derstanding she is taught fancy weaving. 
The work of some of these young artists 
is beautiful. To teach them various de- 
signs the beginner is taken by the master 
of the art into the yard and the designs 
are drawn on the clay or sand. Sometimes 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 161 

they are drawn on paper, but paper being 
generally scarce the first means are invari- 
ably employed. When the pupil has mas- 
tered the drawing lessons she is shown the 
arrangement of every thread and the color 
that should be used. After accomplishing 
this the student must then make the de- 
signs in the rug or embroider them on a 
piece of cloth without looking at the draw- 
ing. 

The Incentives io Becoming an Artist 

The incentives to becoming an artist in 
the field of rug-making are indeed mani- 
fold. The first and foremost thought is 
to uphold the family name, the second, that 
it practically assures a young lady a good 
marriage, the third and final one, her ar- 
tistic ability adds to her marriage dower 
at the final settlement of matrimonial 
arrangements between herself and her 
lover. 

It is indeed not an unusual thing for a 
Persian beauty to put from seven to ten 



162 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

years into the making of a small rug as 
a gift for a prospective husband. Thus, 
being a work of love and a work of years, it 
is natural that, at its completion, it should 
not only shine like an Almas (diamond) 
but should fulfill all her dreams, hopes and 
fancies for a happy future. 

The Material Used in Rug-Weaving 

Wool, cotton, silk, goat's and camel's 
hair are extensively used in the art of rug- 
making. The wool is obtained from shear- 
ing the sheep and the young Persian lambs. 
The lamb's wool, on account of its soft- 
ness, is used in finer Persian rugs. The 
goats of Kurdistan and the Province of 
Azerbajin have long, fluffy hair with nat- 
ural colors of black, white and brown. 
The hair obtained from these goats can 
not be surpassed in any part of the world 
with the exception of the Angora and the 
Cashmere of Tibet. The camel's hair is 
obtained mainly from the eastern part of 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 16$ 

Persia, as the camels of that locality have 
long, wooly hair. 

All animals that produce rug material * 
are sheared in the spring and fall. The 
sheep, goats, and Persian lambs after be- 
ing fed in summer and winter come out of 
their pens fat and fluffy. They suddenly, 
however, change their appearance, and it 
is indeed a sight to see hundreds of these 
animals, after losing their woolen dress, 
running up and down the banks of a stream 
and trimmed all over with the exception of 
small tufts around the ears. 

Cotton-raising is one of the most im- 
portant industries in Persia. This mate- 
rial is used in rug-making on account of 
its several advantages. First, it is con- 
sidered lighter than wool; second, it gives 
a better foundation on which to tie the 

i This war has practically destroyed the future Per- 
sian and Turkish rug industry, as a large percentage of 
animals which produced the rug material have been slain 
for food, and a number of men who prepared this mate- 
rial are now lying dead on the field of battle. 



164 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

pile; third, it keeps the rugs in better 
shape, and finally, the most important 
quality is that moths seldom get in rugs 
where cotton is used. 

The famous Persian Abresem (silk) is 
obtained mainly from the regions border- 
ing the Caspian Sea. In order to produce 
the silk great precaution is taken to assure 
the safety of the caterpillars from any 
danger of cold or noise. Primarily the 
silk-worms must be kept in a clean room 
with body temperature, and they must be 
guarded from all buzzing of flies and mos- 
quitoes. 

How the Material is Prepared 

When the wool or other material for rug- 
making is thus obtained, it is put through 
a process of cleaning. The wool is first 
soaked in cold water and thoroughly 
washed until all its impurities have disap- 
peared. It is then spread in the sun until 
it is well dried, but care is taken not to 
allow the wool to dry to the extent of los- 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 165 



ing its natural oil. After the wool has 
been cleaned it is put through a process 
of picking to loosen it so it can be spun 
into yarn. The apparatus for picking 
shown in the diagram is made of wood. 



■ Bim i iifiiin I II 




STCCk SPIKZ& 



THt WOOL PICKING APPARATUS 

The top is full of steel spikes about an 
inch long. The instrument is placed firmly 
between the knees, and the wool is repeat- 
edly pulled over the spikes until it is thor- 
oughly mixed. 

Another instrument used largely for 
picking is called by the natives, Gishta. 



166 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

The use of this instrument is a trade and 
many men make a living by it. In the sea- 
sons of wool-shearing and cotton-picking, 
Gishta-users go from house to house to 
mix the wool or cotton so that it can be 




GISJ1TA 




-—net© ei Mm hand 



spun and finally used in making rugs and 
carpets. This instrument is shown in the 
diagram and consists of a bow made of 
wood, about six or seven feet long. The 
string of it is made of buffalo hide or some 
unbreakable material. The handle of the 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 167 

bow is held by the left hand, and the string, 
while touching the wool or cotton, is 
pounded with a wooden chicka (hammer) 
held by the right hand. As the string vi- 
brates and springs up and down in the 
wool it mixes it and makes it ready for the 
next operation, spinning. 

The looms and cotton-gins are so nu- 
merous in Persia that they can be found in 
almost every home. The spinning is done 
on the hand spinning-wheel by women, es- 
pecially widows, who are compelled to make 
their living. The spinners work from four 
or five o'clock in the morning to the late 
hours of night, and if they spin during that 
time one pound of wool it is considered 
to be a good day's work. 

When the wool is spun it is then wound 
up in large skeins and made ready for the 
dyers. 

The Dyer and the Method of Dyeing 

In Persia the dyers can be recognized 
a long distance off by the color of their 



168 WHEN I WA8 A BOY IN PERSIA 

hands. That they are dyers makes them 
not only exceedingly proud, but they feel 
quite happy over the fact that their hands 
show the marks of their profession. The 
craft is hereditary and it descends as sa- 
cred treasure from father to son for gen- 
erations. The dyers are all men. In the 
case of a weaver not being able to make 
or prepare his own dyes, the yarn is taken 
to one of the dyers and dyed the desired 
color and shade. 

Dyes are prepared from leaves, plants, 
roots, and the bark of trees, insects, ani- 
mal blood, vegetables, and flowers. After 
the colors have been extracted they are 
put in big pots, boiled, and reboiled, until 
a satisfactory shade has been obtained. 
When the dye is ready to be used, the dyer 
takes one skein of yarn at a time and dips 
it into the dye until the desired tint has 
been obtained. It is then taken out and 
hung over the dye-pot in the sun without 
being wrung out. 

The dyeing season is usually in the lat- 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 169 

ter part of spring, or at times when the 
rains do not fall. In passing by the vil- 
lages one can easily recognize the dyer's 
home: on his housetop and in the yard 
there will be seen skeins of yarn of various 
colors hung on ropes to dry. When there 
•are several dyers in the same village the 
display of colors is truly picturesque and, 
to a stranger, it would seem that the vil- 
lage was having a big holiday, or that they 
were commemorating a great national 
event. 

The dyers that I knew in Persia were 
the best-hearted men that I ever saw. The 
boys liked them more than anybody else 
in the village. We used their yards and 
housetops as loafing-places, and not in- 
frequently, to get us out of the way when 
they were working, they gave us colored 
yarns out of which we made our King 
David sling-shots. 



170 WEEN I WAS A BOY IN PEESIA 

The Loom and Weaving 

The apparatus used in weaving a Per- 
sian rug is indeed a very simple and not 
at all complicated piece of mechanism. 
The whole loom is made of four rough 
poles, two of them firmly set in the ground 
like telephone poles, another placed across 
these at the top and another at the bottom, 
thus forming a wooden frame. This is 
regulated according to the size of the rug. 
The warp threads are stretched from the 
top to the bottom pole, with a smooth stick 
inserted between the threads as a shuttle. 
When this is done the rug painting begins. 

The Persian weaving, like Persian read- 
ing and writing, always begins at the right 
and goes to the left. The craft, on account 
of requiring small, dainty hands to tie the 
close knots and stitches, is performed 
mainly by the delicate fingers of women and 
girls. 

The weavers are very superstitious. 
They would not think of commencing their 




Rug-Weaver at Work. 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 171 

work without first invoking the blessing of 
Allah by saying, "Bisrnil lah-el Rdhemone 
el Rahum," meaning, "In the name of God, 
the Merciful, the Compassionate.' ' When 
the neighbors come to see their work they 
are given most wicked looks unless before 
making any complimentary remarks they 
say, "Mashallah, Mashallah." Again, to 
avoid the evil eye of their neighbors or 
visitors they tie blue beads in the rug and 
leave the tufts of wool undipped, not keep- 
ing track of how much work they accom- 
plish during the day, or the space they 
cover. Frequently, upon commencing 
their work next morning they look to see 
whether the devils or genii have interfered 
with their designs. They also believe that 
genii come at night and do their weaving 
for them and braid the fringes of their 
rugs. 1 

i We once had a Kurdish servant whose family had 
been weavers. His name was Sadig, and he was a firm 
believer in the power the genii exercised over animals. 
I remember one time some one had braided the mane of 
a horse while it was in the stable. When the Kurd boy 
pulled the horse out and saw its mane braided he nearly 



172 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

One of the principal reasons that a Per- 
sian rug is so durable and lasting is the 
method of knotting. Every knot is made 
separately so that in case it should come 
out it would not affect other knots or rows 
in the rug. 

How Long Does It Take To Make a 
Persian Rug? 

The question of how long it takes to make 
a Persian rug has been asked frequently. 
For this reason I will give as an example 
how much time and labor it requires to 
make one of the standard American size. 
A 9 x 12 rug made in Persia by a fine 
weaver would have at least 400 handmade 
knots to the square inch, or 6,220,800 knots 
when completed. In tying the knots the 
weaver must exercise a great deal of skill 
and care, so it is very doubtful that even 
the fastest and most expert weavers can 
tie more than three knots per minute. 

fainted. He was afraid to ride it for fear that genii 
had ridden the beast. 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 173 

Therefore if a weaver works eight hours 
every day in the year it will take eleven 
years, ten months and five days to complete 
this piece of work. 

How the Persian Rugs Are Named and 

Classified 

The Persian rugs take the names of dis- 
tricts or cities in which they are made. 
For example, the Tabriz rug is called by 
that name because it is made in the city 
of Tabriz. The Teheran rug is made in 
the Persian capital city, the Sheraz rug 
in the city of Sheraz. Sometimes erron- 
eously the rugs are named from the city 
in which they were sold or shipped, such 
as "Kirmanshah" rugs. There are thou- 
sands of Kirman rugs that are sold as 
"Kirmanshah" simply because that was 
the last place from which the rugs were 
purchased. 

The rugs are also classified according 
to their weave and grade. The following 
are the most important rugs made in Per- 



174 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

sia and exported largely to England and 
the United States : 

Senna, Sorrook, Kirmanshah, Kashan, 
Tabriz, Kirman, Sheraz, Teheran or Irani, 
Khorassan, Saraband, Herat, Ferogan, 
Hamadan, Kurdistan, Ispahan and Sul- 
tanabad. 

Until recent years very few weavers 
wove rags with the idea of selling them. 
Bugs were made primarily for the use of 
the family. Occasionally, however, when 
a friend or stranger admired the precious 
article to the extent of causing the "evil 
eye" to come upon it and on the family 
that owned it, the rug was either given 
away or sold for a few pieces of silver. 
The rugs that we had were mainly bought 
or presented to my grandfather by Kurd- 
ish chieftains. Some of the rugs which we 
used in our house have not, as yet, to my 
knowledge, found a place in the American 
market. 

These are large felt carpets called by 
the natives, "Lumta." They are made, 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 175 

not by weaving, but by beating the wool 
together and then pressing it. They are 
very thick, warm and noiseless, with red, 
cream, and white borders. The field of 
these carpets is frequently dotted with red, 
black, white, green, blue and golden cir- 
cles of wool. Besides felt carpets there 
were also long, narrow rags from 4 x 12 
feet and upward. I once asked my father 
to tell me how much some of these rugs 
cost. The one 4 x 12 I was told cost orig- 
inally about $2.40, and the largest ones 
that I saw never cost more than $18 in 
American money. I believe that, even 
now, the rugs can be bought at a very low 
price, but strangers or rug agents who are 
not acquainted with the character and cus- 
toms of the Kurds and other fastidious 
rug-owners, would be subject to robbery 
and many great disappointments in pur- 
chasing these rugs from the homes of the 
owners. 



176 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

The Character and Customs of Some of the 
Rug-Makers 

The reader will no doubt be interested 
in having first-hand information with re- 
gard to the character and customs of these 
Kurds x who are by far the greatest rug- 
makers in northern Persia. 

The origin of the Kurds has not been 
satisfactorily settled, but it is believed that 
in their veins flows the blood of the Chal- 
deans, Babylonians, and Assyrians. In 
early times the Kurds preferred the moun- 
tains as their place of habitation, and took 
great pride then as they do now in being 
called "G-urdu," a title which signifies 
"warrior." To-day they are better known 
in the Occident as "Kurds," and number 
about two million, five hundred thousand 2 

i The author has used a few extracts from his article 
on Kurds published in the Review of Reviews, March 
issue, 1916. 

2 There are no means by which we can obtain with 
accuracy the exact population of the Kurds, for neither 
in Persia nor in Turkey has a Government Census Bu- 
reau been established. 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 177 

persons, having their abode mostly in 
Kurdistan. Their land, which is extremely 
mountainous, rises to the east of the upper 
Tigris, in the direction of Urumiah. The 
area of this space is sixty thousand square 
miles. There is not a mile of railway in 
the whole country, and neither is there a 
road fit for traveling except by caravan. 

No people are more mistrusted by the 
Persians and the Turks than the Kurds. 
They do not consider a man's religion and 
standing ; they would rob a Turk or a Per- 
sian as well as an Armenian or a Greek 
should he happen to be a stranger to them. 
Of two million, five hundred thousand 
Kurds there is no one who calls himself 
lawgiver and ruler. There is no one who 
assumes the authority to punish his fel- 
low Kurd. Law with a Kurd is a personal 
matter. Each individual considers him- 
self his own king and prince. A monarchy 
of self-control is unknown among them. 
In short, the Kurdish mind is his constitu- 
tion, his gun and saber the means by which 



178 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

he enforces law and justice, and the Ot- 
toman Porte or the Persian Shah has no 
power to interfere with him. 

Allegiance of any description is, accord- 
ing to philosophers like Bousseau, a folly 
if not a crime, and quite beneath the dig- 
nity of a human being. Such is the phil- 
osophy of the Kurds. They love personal 
liberty and under no condition will they 
willingly subject themselves to any ruler. 
The Kurds take no interest in modern 
reforms. They dislike the light of civili- 
zation. We hear of every known nation- 
ality and people in America except the 
Kurds. They have no established homes. 
In summer they live in tents of goat's 
hair, on the mountain-tops, and establish 
their rug studios in the open air, and un- 
der the inspiration of God's great out-of- 
doors they weave excellently designed 
rugs. In winter the Kurds descend to 
lower lands and live in villages in houses 
made out of mud. Their fare is of the 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 179 

simplest, their usual diet consisting of 
bread and buttermilk, and cheese made of 
goat's milk. They have experienced little 
change since Noah's Ark rested on Mount 
Ararat. 

James Bryce, in his ' ' Transcaucasia and 
Ararat," p. 256, gives a graphic picture 
of the Kurds : 

"Through the empires of Assyria and Persia 
and Macedon, through Parthian Arsocidae and 
Iranian Sassanidae, through the reigns of Ara- 
bian Caliphs and Turkish Sultans and Persian 
Shahs, these Kurds have roamed as they roam 
now over the slopes of the everlasting mountains, 
watering their flocks at this spring, pitching 
their goat's hair tents in the recesses of these 
lonely rocks, chanting their mildly pathetic airs 
with neither a past to remember nor a future to 
plan f or.' ' 

Occasionally some queer stories have 
been told by visitors to Kurdistan. One of 
these remains in my memory as exemplify- 
ing the schooling of a young Kurd. My 
grandfather, who used to make frequent 



180 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

trips to Kurdistan, related the following 
conversation with a Kurdish chieftain: 

"You have several sons, I understand?" 

"Yes," answered the chief. 

"Are they all married?" 

"All but poor Ali, and no girl will marry 
him because he is not a successful thief 
and robber. ' J 

"Well, what are you going to do about 
it?" 

"Oh, I have advised him," responded 
the chief, "to carry with him a gun and a 
sword, and I have explicitly impressed 
upon his mind that no matter how bloody 
and evil the deed he might commit, it will 
only add respect and honor to his name and 
family." 

Such is the advice of the Kurdish father 
to his son. The word "kill' is the most 
used term in the whole Kurdish vocabu- 
lary. If the Kurds engage in conversation 
it is not very long before one who may be 
listening, even though he may know noth- 
ing of the language, detects the words: 



PERSIAN RUGS AND RUG-MAKERS 181 

"Allah ackchin ulderim," 1 "By Allah, I 
will kill him." Living so close to Kurdi- 
stan as I did we boys frequently got into 
skirmishes with the young Kurds, and it 
was very unusual, on such occasions, to find 
a young Kurd without a King David sling- 
shot and a club in his hand, a dagger in 
ihis belt, or a gun on his shoulder. 

Sometimes these Kurds, when in need 
of a horse or gun, take their rugs, usually 
to the smaller towns, and offer them for 
sale at a very low price. The bargain, 
however, often proves quite disastrous. 
In selling their rugs the Kurds generally 
find out who holds the largest purse in 
the village, and after purchasing their 
horses and necessary fighting implements, 
they attack the village, plunder the inhabi- 
tants, and steal their own rugs back. 

i The words, "Allah ackchin ulderim," are Turkish, as 
the Kurdish language is largely intermingled with Turk- 
ish, Arabic, and Persian. 



X 



PREPARATIONS FOR A FAR JOURNEY 

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, 
Moves on : nor all your Piety nor Wit 
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, 
Nor all your Tears wash out a word of it. 

I have been frequently asked why I came 
to America. There are several reasons 
which offer themselves in answer to this 
question. Primarily, my leaving home 
was brought about by the death of my 
mother. Secondly, as I grew older, the 
despotic government, and the ill-treatment 
of Persian subjects by officials became quite 
objectionable. Thirdly, and finally, I was 
told of great opportunities for young men 
in America in the field of education, sci- 
ence, and industry, which fact, after hav- 
ing lived in the States for half my life, I 

182 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 183 

fully appreciate. In leaving Persia I was 
not actuated by any material motives. At 
that time I was too young, as most boys 
are, to give this phase of the subject 
serious consideration. In fact, I had 
never made a cent in my life and neither 
did I know how to go about making one. 
Furthermore, the fear of ever getting 
stranded in America never entered my 
mind. To show my inexperience in hand- 
ling money, let me relate an incident of my 
trip: Soon after I reached Russia, while 
in Tifliz, I met a man who said that he 
knew my family and advised me to give 
him my money to keep as there were so 
many pickpockets about. When I was in- 
formed of this fact, even though he was a 
total stranger to me, I immediately gave 
him all the money I had, with the exception 
of some small change. I then went to my 
menzil (stopping-place) and he went on his 
own way. I was in Tifliz about two weeks 
and I saw this gentleman from time to 
time, but I never asked him what he was 



184 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

doing with my money. On the last day of 
my stay in Tifliz he returned it to me and 
took me to the station, wishing me God- 
speed on my far journey. This man could 
have disappeared easily with what I gave 
him, of course, but I had never had any 
personal experience with a dishonest man, 
and I am glad that I was not disillusioned 
at that time. 

It is thus seen that I came to America, 
not to enrich myself, but to go where I 
thought I would be happy. If my mother 
had lived, there is no doubt in my mind 
that no earthly ambition nor even the hard- 
ships endured in living under a despotic 
government could have induced me to 
leave the old hills and vineyards of that 
little village in Persia. The relation 
which existed between my mother and my- 
self was very singular. I could not do 
without her for any length of time, as I 
was absolutely devoted to her. When 
school closed for the day, instead of stop- 
ping to play with the boys I went home to 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 185 

see her. If she were not there I ran to 
my grandmother's house, where I was al- 
most sure to see her, but if she did not 
happen to be there, I visited all the neigh- 
bors 7 homes until I found her. I much 
preferred staying with her to playing with 
my comrades, and sometimes she had to 
compel me to go out and mix with other 
boys. 

It was not the same with my father. As 
long as mother and I were together I never 
missed him. At times I was even glad 
when he went to the city and left us alone. 
When the two had any argument or dis- 
cussion (which was indeed very seldom), 
I always took Mother's part. Of course I 
could not tell who was right, but I was for 
Mother, right or wrong. 

Mother's health was shattered at the 
time of my birth. She never really re- 
gained it, even with all the American as 
well as the native treatment. Toward the 
end she became very frail and experienced 
a vast physical change. But even while 



186 WHEN I WAS A BOY JN PERSIA 

she was losing the bloom of her youth, to 
my knowledge my father never lost his de- 
votion to her. He was always kind and 
courteous, and did all he could to improve 
her health. One day, in the latter part of 
the autumn, she passed away a few hours 
after the sun had gone down. Her last 
words to me were: "Obey your father." 
As the poet, Hafiz, says, she "sought a 
lodging in the grave too soon," for she 
died at the age of thirty-six. 

At the death of my mother I was about 
fourteen years old, just at the age when I 
needed her most. At this time I felt 
extremely bitter with regard to life. It 
did not seem reasonable that my mother 
and I should part forever when we had 
been so happy together. It grieved me so 
that, for a long time after her death, I 
never neglected to pay my daily visit to 
her sepulcher. I performed this humble 
pilgrimage to her shrine in all kinds of 
weather, wishing to die also, so I could be 
with her in heaven. 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 187 

Her death suddenly transformed me 
from a mere child into a man. I lost all 
interest in my early games. Instead of 
playing tops, marbles and "Hat in the 
Bing" with my crowd, I watched them play. 
I took no pleasure in cock fights, neither 
did I attempt to train game roosters as I 
had done before. Life became a serious 
proposition. I wanted to live in such a 
manner in future so as to be a credit to 
my mother. 

Father and I, after the death of my 
mother, were left alone, aria during that 
time we became very companionable. But 
my father was still a young man, so, after 
remaining a widower for a reasonable 
period, he was married again, to a good 
woman whom we all knew. My new 
mother was very kind to me, too kind, in 
fact. She let me have my own way, in and 
out of the house, in every respect. Quite 
frequently I did things for which I would 
have been scolded by my own mother, but 
my stepmother passed them by as though 



188 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

they were nothing. My father, for fear 
of hurting my feelings, also overlooked all 
my faults. This really hurt me. I felt 
very unhappy. My new mother never 
scolded me for anything except a failure 
on my part to take a bath at regular inter- 
vals; then she used to put me in the tub 
and scrub me as my own mother used to 
do. 

A Badly Governed Land * 

Tyrants who on their people fall 

Sap their own State's foundation wall. 

In addition to my grief I had the mis- 
fortune to live under a despotic and tyran- 
nical form of government which I greatly 
disliked. As a boy I despised the idea 
of bakshish, and the practice of buying 
and selling government offices, and, espe- 
cially, the maltreatment of the peasantry. 

Eousseau, the Genevan philosopher, 

i The author has not hesitated to use a few lines from 
an article contributed by him to the American Review of 
Reviews on Persia, June issue, 1916. 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 189 

says: "It would be hard for a man to 
whom the state has been sold not to sell 
it in his turn and indemnify himself out of 
the helplessness for the money which the 
powerful have extorted from him. ' ' * This 
is the greatest evil in the Persian Govern- 
ment. But the practice of bakshish is 
quite necessary for the political grafters 
of the Orient, for without it no one can hold 
a Government position. The system can, 
perhaps, be best explained by a hypotheti- 
cal case. 

Let us suppose, for instance, that the 
reader is worth a million dollars and is 
seeking the position of vizier. The first 
step would be to present a good-sized purse 
to an official, who would then take great 
pleasure in introducing you to his superior, 
and you continue making gifts to all the. of- 
ficials until, finally, you are introduced 
to the royal family. The bakshish has 
to be given to all the princes and to the 
Shah. If the purse and your personality 

i"The Social Contract"; pp. 165-166. 



190 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

please his Royal Highness, your position 
is assured. 

As soon as you have secured the coveted 
position you recoup yourself by reversing 
the process: from being a giver you be- 
come a receiver. If the office means gu- 
bernatorial appointment, then your hope 
comes from the appointment of various of- 
ficials for collecting the taxes. The col- 
lectors, in order to* maintain their own 
state, and to meet the usual bakshish of 
the governor, are compelled to extort a 
much higher sum than is expected by their 
chief. Here then, comes the sad part of 
the Persian administrative system. All 
the burden falls upon the poor and the 
peasant. 

The government has never done anything 
that would make the inhabitants of Persia 
happy. Its officials, figuratively speaking, 
are like lilies of the field, "They toil not, 
neither do they spin," and we are not put- 
ting it too strongly when we quote that 
"even Solomon in all his glory was not 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 191 

arrayed like one of these." All the 
palaces and castles were built by their poor 
subjects. Every Persian is compelled to 
serve one of these lords several days in 
the year without pay. Besides this, all 
the work in Persia, from the sowing of the 
seed to the threshing of the wheat, and 
from the weaving of a rug to the finishing 
of a pack-saddle was, and is, performed 
by the hands of the weary people. 

When the governor received his appoint- 
ment the Teheran government knew how 
much money and produce should be 
furnished by him, but it had no knowledge 
of the sources from which he derived the 
tax which was delivered to the Shah's 
treasury. 

In Persia, land, fruit, trees, springs, hay, 
beasts of burden, cattle, sheep, goats, even 
chickens — everything is taxable. If you 
raise ten chickens you give two to the tax 
collector, fifty cents for each sheep or goat, 
one dollar for each buffalo, horse, camel or 
cow. This has been gradually raised year 



192 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

after year. The poll tax of a dollar and a 
half is levied on every boy after sixteen 
years of age. 

Sometimes the tax collectors come at a 
very trying season when the people have 
no money with which to pay. They desert 
their homes and disappear for weeks at 
a time. In fact some of the poorer class, 
who have been unjustly treated, live to- 
gether in houses built in a cluster under 
the ground, with a communicating passage 
known only to themselves. The result is 
that the tax-collectors, though they see 
nothing but a grass-covered hut, may be 
actually in the midst of several tax- 
dodgers. If caught, of course they are 
punished most severely. I have seen poor 
people run out of their homes by the tax 
collectors and clubbed on the back and head 
because they had no money to pay their 
taxes. 1 

i When the tax collectors come to villages they make 
themselves perfectly at home with everything that peo- 
ple have. When Grandfather Mirza was Ketkhoda I 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 193 

The maltreatment of the people for not 
being able to meet the demands of their 
superiors is not limited to the peasant 
class. Here we have the words of that 
eminent British historian, Malcolm, who 
was, in the days of Aga Mahmut Khan, an 
English Minister to the Persian Court. 
He says, "One of his ministers, Hadji Ib- 
raham, was kept under the direct rays of 
the ^un without a turban for several hours 
until he agreed to pay a sum that had been 
demanded of him." 

Thinking About America and Studying 
English 

I, personally, did not propose to be 
treated either as a peasant or a vizier in 
Persia. In order to avoid this I decided 
to go where there were no kings and 
princes and where every one was the 
master of himself, the king of his own 
soul. 

was told that he clubbed one of these officials on that 
account. 



194 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

America was not an unknown country to 
me. I had read about it frequently and I 
had an aunt who, with her husband and 
two children, had been studying in the 
United States for several years. I also 
had an uncle who came to America to study 
medicine. We used to receive letters and 
presents from them. Upon one occasion 
my uncle sent me a little pearl penknife 
with two tiny blades. It was the smallest 
cutting instrument the villagers had ever 
seen. The boys and even grown men came 
from all over the surrounding country to 
see it. It disappeared within a week, and 
as usual, this was blamed on the evil eye 
by my companions. These little presents 
had a charm for me; I wanted to see the 
country where they were made. 

When, with the consent of my father, I 
finally decided to come to America, I be- 
gan learning English with the greatest 
diligence. I studied with my aunt, who, 
although she had never been out of her 
own country, by tutoring had become con- 



PBEPABATIONS FOB A JOUBNEY 195 

siderable of an English scholar. I had a 
primer which I carried with me wherever 
I went. I studied it under the trees, in 
our vineyards, and beside the limpid wa- 
ters of our village stream. On my way to 
and from the hay-fields I counted the trees 
in English. Another method which I dis- 
covered to be a great help in learning the 
language was to compare the Bible in Eng- 
lish with that in Turkish and Syriac. 

When the time came for me to leave, 
my father took me to the city to a tailor, 
had me fitted with European attire, and 
made the arrangements for my passport. 
We then returned home and waited for the 
final adieu. 

My Departure 

After being provided by my father with 
'sufficient means for my journey, I left my 
home in the month of May. The day be- 
fore my departure I went first to the tomb 
of my mother, where I placed a wreath, and 
then from orchard to orchard, and from 



196 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

vineyard to vineyard, taking my last look 
at the land where my mother's foot had 
pressed. Then I went to pay my last calls 
on my relatives and friends. At this time 
I felt exceedingly blue. Everywhere I 
went the good people cried, and when I 
came home I found my father and my step- 
mother shedding tears. Father knew 
more about the dangers and temptations 
that befall a boy and young man than I did. 
This worried him, as he did not know how 
I was going to conduct myself when I was 
miles from home, away from my parents' 
influence. The following advice was im- 
pressed upon me : " Be honest, work hard, 
remember your God, and keep away from 
temptation." 

Having paid my calls and performed my 
last rites at the grave of my mother, I 
packed all my belongings, and with a few 
friends and relatives, and my chum, whose 
name was "Davod," I started to Urumiah, 
a city conceded to be the birthplace of Zur- 
dish, commonly called " Zoroaster,' ' to 




A Country House in Persia. 




General View of Urumiah. 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 197 

meet the party that was leaving for Amer- 
ica. 

Traveling Through Persia 

Our party comprised seven boys, all ex- 
cept two less than twenty years old. At 
Urumiah we hired a charwadar who made 
the trip repeatedly from that city to the 
Eussian border. He was therefore well 
acquainted with the road and the Kurds 
and brigands. I believe he had an under- 
standing with the highway robbers not to 
attack any of his parties. The charwadar 
furnished a four-wheeled wagon painted 
dark red. It was drawn by four horses. 
There were no seats and no cover to pro- 
tect us from the rain. In traveling the 
boys sat on their blankets and hung their 
feet over the sides as though they were 
having a straw-ride. When climbing hills 
the charwadar ordered us to get off and 
walk, and we obeyed him. 

This charwadar was a man nearly fifty 
years old, and was full of fighting spirit. 



198 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

He wore a Cossack hat and a uniform which 
fairly bristled with cartridges. In fact, as 
one looked at his saber, gun, and all the 
ammunition fastened all over his body, one 
would imagine that he was a highwayman 
himself. But quite the contrary was the 
fact. He took care of us like his own chil- 
dren, when he could have robbed us and 
enriched himself with hundreds of dollars. 
In the evenings and during the whole 
journey he entertained us by telling of 
wonderful fights and experiences he had 
had with robbers on these trips. "We en- 
joyed hearing all this, but we did not know 
what might happen next. When we came 
to a certain bank, hill or high wall, he would 
inform us that they were dangerous spots 
as frequently the thieves attacked travelers 
from behind such places. At times we 
used to get quite excited, and to quiet us 
he used to pat his gun and saber, and ad- 
monish us not to be afraid for there was 
nothing that could happen while he was 
with us. We were good to him, as he was 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 199 

to us. Although we never entered into 
any agreement to furnish him with meals, 
we gave him his food as an artickh teka, 
meaning "an extra bite." 

Our meal-hours and halting-places were 
determined according to the presence of 
water, shade, and tea-houses. In Persia 
nearly every three or four miles there is 
a tea-house, and, whenever we came to one 
of these places, almost always one of the 
boys wanted to get off and have some tea 
and a cheese sandwich. To this the char- 
wadar never offered any objection, and, to 
keep his good will, we never neglected to 
give him the first cup and sandwich. 
When we were unable to get to a tea-house 
and became fatigued on the road we re- 
clined under an acacia, a cypress or a syca- 
more tree and quenched our thirst with 
limpid water, which was indeed quite plen- 
tiful even in a dry country like Persia. 

Our day's journey was not governed by 
the distance traveled but by the conven- 
ience of our chief and the nearness of a 



200 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

caravansary for passing the night. When 
we reached a caravansary the charwadar 
showed lis where to deposit our baggage, 
so that, in the morning, when he waked 
us up we would know where to get it. We 
usually started our day's journey long be- 
fore light, between three and four o'clock. 
The chief, in his most military manner, 
superintended the loading of the goods. 
After traveling from town to town and 
menzil to menzil for three days, we reached 
the great city of Hamadan. 

In the Hamadan Caravansary 

Think, in this batter 'd Caravanserai 
Whose portals are alternate night and day 
How Sultan after Sultan, with his pomp, 
Abode his destin'd hour, and went his way. 

Hamadan is one of the most important 
commercial cities in Persia. It is re- 
nowned for its past and glorious history. 
Here we have the sepulcher of Mordecai 
and Queen Esther, and in this locality 
there is also the tomb of the Prophet 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 201 

Daniel. It was here that Darius and Xer- 
xes established their palaces. Hamadan 
is the ancient Ecbatana, the famous capi- 
tal of the Medes and Persians. What a 
great honor to be standing on the ground 
where the noted heroes of the land of my 
nativity made their abodes, planned their 
great strategies, and fought their great 
battles twenty-five hundred years ago ! 

The great caravansary at Hamadan is 
open to everything and everybody. It is 
a square building, exhibiting for an out- 
sider nothing but four walls and a tower 
in front. It has one huge gate, and, as you 
enter it, the first object that presents it- 
self is a fountain in the court. The huge 
building is divided into lofty, arched apart- 
ments, which are occupied by travelers ac- 
cording to their means. There can be seen 
caravans and other travelers, devotees 
mostly, making pilgrimages to or return- 
ing from Mecca, Medina, and other holy 
places. Each traveler carries his own 
bedding. We each had a good blanket and 



202 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

a wide tapestry. The caravansaries are 
usually infested with vermin and poisonous 
bugs and the one in Hamadan was no ex- 
ception. So for safety we were compelled 
to fix our own beds according to our ideas 
of comfort. The animals were packed in 
the courtyard and those that were of a 
vicious temperament were tied to stout 
posts. 

In the morning every one was up be- 
fore daybreak. The caravan leaders and 
merchants, with their camels and asses, 
were hurrying and shouting, each trying to 
go ahead of his fellow traveler. The 
horses, donkeys, camels, and mules each 
were battering away on the floor of the 
great court with their hoofs and braying 
according to their particular species. If 
a state official were in the caravansary, the 
noise of men would not be so great for 
fear that he might at any time call them 
to account and inflict a fine and punish- 
ment for disturbing his nightly rest. 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 203 

Seeing Mount Ararat, and the End of My 
Journey in Persia 

We were destined to stay in the Hama- 
dan Caravansary just for one night. Next 
day, as usual, we were up by dawn and 
started the journey while the day was cool. 
By the roadside we saw the devotees fac- 
ing Mecca and praying: "La Allalie el 
Allah va Mohammed rasul Allah/ 9 mean- 
ing there is only one God and Mohammed 
is the Prophet of God. We frequently 
came across high hills of ashes, the ancient 
remains of fire-worshipers in the Hama- 
dan district. 

Mount Ararat, on account of its Biblical 
history, afforded more interest and occu- 
pied the attention of all to a greater ex- 
tent than any other scenery along the way. 
I saw it within a distance, I believe, of two 
miles. When I was told by our charwadar, 
" There is Mount Ararat," I kept my eyes 
on it until the view of its snowy top dis- 
appeared in the clear horizon. 



204 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN PERSIA 

Our journey across Persia lasted seven 
days. The weather was cool and delight- 
ful. The land was dotted with tulips, hya- 
cinths, irises, bluebells, buttercups, cro- 
cuses, hallalies x and fragrant herbs. Far 
away we saw jungles, great and small 
mountains, silvery streams and fertile val- 
leys. At night we were frequently enter- 
tained by the bulbul (nightingale), which 
sang charmingly in the trees. 

The whole trip was very picturesque and 
beautiful. I have never seen anything like 
it. It indeed surpasses the natural scenery 
of Maine, or the White Mountains. 

Thus I traveled with my good com- 
panions and faithful charwadar until I 
reached the banks of Aras, the ancient 
Araxes, 2 which forms the boundary line 

i This flower I have not seen in America. 

2 "In the classic writers," says Prof. A. V. W. Jack- 
son, "this river was proverbial for its swift current, 
whose rushing descent from Armenian Mountains car- 
ried away the bridges in the winter time, so that Virgil 
calls it the stream intolerant of any span: "Pontem in- 
dignatus Araxes"; Virgil, ^Eneid, 8, 728; "Persia Past 
and Present," p. 22. 



PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 205 

between Persia and Eussia. After being 
detained a little while by the customs in- 
spectors, I boarded a ferry and was con- 
ducted across the river to the Russian fron- 
tier, which cut me off from my native land 
and ended my boyhood days in Persia. 



TAMAM 



H 30Z 85 





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